The legs of the gurney suddenly seemed like a grand place behind which to cower. It took some effort to shake off the childish notion. By which time Anakin had strode into the room, the doors sliding closed behind him with horrible finality. He cut an impressive figure. Tall, poised, powerful and supremely confident. Handsome at first glance, if one ignored the hatred in his eyes, and the thin line that used to be a generous mouth. The man was infuriated, that much was obvious. Even with the Force dimmed, Obi-Wan could detect the waves of dark energy pulsating off of him. It was a frightening thing to perceive.
"Anakin?" he enquired; shocked into saying anything further by the soft squeak that now passed for his voice. His horror must have shown, because the thunderous expression on Anakin's face changed to one of delight, his lips full again and his eyes free of shadows.
"I'm glad you still remember me, Obi-Wan. There were certain known and unknown risks in halting the procedure prematurely."
Procedure? Prematurely?
"You did this?" he asked, instinctively stepping backwards.
The thunder in his expression returned, and Obi-Wan worked hard not to flinch at the return of so much anger. And so quickly too. He would have to be cautious in the face of such mercurial mood changes.
"No. The Rebels did this, Obi-Wan. It wasn't enough that I defeated you once. They wanted you to die a second time, it seems."
There was his answer. As clear as day. He was going to die now. Again. And if the hatred in that gaze was any judge, it was going to be just as painful as the last time. Obi-Wan absorbed this quietly, trying to get his thoughts in order. Where was the serene surrender he should be feeling? If he was going to die, then that was his fate and it must be embraced. So why was he beginning to feel very real fear at the prospect?
After all, it was unnatural to cheat death. Obi-Wan should meet this head on if it was the will of the Force. Instead, a choked cry escaped him. He didn't want to die, or rather the consciousness he'd melded with was terrified at the prospect. This wasn't all that surprising seeing as it had shared the memories of his demise. There were a great many ways in which to die, to be sure, and Obi-Wan's death had certainly been of the more painful variety.
Instinctively needing greater distance, he kept stepping backwards until he hit the gurney. The sound of impact was horribly loud to his ears. Thankfully, Anakin did not move closer. Instead he folded his arms, and appraised him coldly. "Tell me, Obi-Wan, what else do you remember?"
Obi-Wan. Never had he heard his name spoken with so much hatred. Anakin had spoken it three times now with the same level of feeling, and it hurt to hear his name trip off a tongue that had once spoken it so fondly.
He remembered far too much.
The sharp searing pains as his legs were lopped off at the knee. The flash of poisoned yellow eyes before he tumbled down the incline. The slow warm up as the hot rock penetrated his tunics, and he broke out into a full sweat. Laughter. The crunch of gravel as Darth Vader departed. The overwhelming feeling of failure. The panic soon after as the river of lava quickly rose to greet him. Helplessness mixed with acceptance as the fire hot liquid touched his mutilated body. The sizzle of flesh burning. The sudden white-out at the sensation.
"I remember enough, Vader."
A wry grin. "I sense much fear in you, my old master. You don't need to be afraid of me."
"You're right, of course," Obi-Wan agreed pleasantly, nodding his head. "I should not fear death, and it is troubling that I should do so. I hope you are a little kinder this time," he finished in a poor attempt to be light hearted.
Vader laughed. "No wonder you're running from me. I don't intend to kill you, Obi-Wan."
"Oh? I thought you'd rejoice at a second chance to end me."
"Don't judge me!" Vader warned, the Dark Side of the Force suddenly flaring. A change that was reflected by the yellow streaks of poison that materialised in his eyes, and began to lengthen and take over. It was a beautifully cruel visual reminder of Anakin's corruption. Obi-Wan watched as the rivers of sickness steadily ate into the surrounding iris of each eye, obliterating the original colour. Was this how Anakin had fallen? Slowly, and without his notice? Obi-Wan didn't wish to see it. He wanted to deny the physical evidence of his failure, but he kept his gaze raised and steady. It was important to meet his shortcomings head on, no matter how painful. His neck wasn't the only thing aching.
Obi-Wan stood his ground in the suffocating silence that followed. The air growing thick and heavy with hatred made corporeal. Vader's fists were clenched, his breathing audible in an obvious attempt to restrain his turbulent emotions. It appeared to be working too, for only a few seconds had elapsed before the air began to thin, and his breathing became easier. It was rare to see such control, and somehow aggravating. Why couldn't Anakin have shown a little more of that restraint on missions? It'd have saved him a great deal of stress and worry. Still, this was not the time to reminisce.
"Nothing has changed," Obi-Wan asserted, crossing his own arms and keeping his neck craned despite the growing discomfort. "You are Sith, I am Jedi. There can be only one outcome, and I find myself at a regrettable disadvantage."
Vader nodded, his composure intact once more. "So how do you like your new body?" The good natured mockery was impossible to miss.
"It's a little small, but I'm sure I'll grow into it," Obi-Wan riposted, before he could think better of it.
Vader chuckled, the poison receding from his eyes. "I see you still have your dry humour. Good."
"I find nothing positive about the situation," Obi-Wan returned, sombrely. It was unwise to fall into old patterns with the Sith Lord, in speech or otherwise. Anakin Skywalker was dead, and it would do neither of them any good to pretend otherwise.
"I find there's a great deal of it. Don't you see, Obi-Wan, what the Rebels have unwittingly given us?" There was fervour to his tone and expression now. The same kind that Obi-Wan had witnessed on Mustafar, when Anakin talked with his wife. It did not fill him with confidence.
Obi-Wan responded with guarded silence. What had happened to Padmé? Was it safe asking? He had so many questions, but it was the way of the Sith to twist the truth, so he'd have to find his own answers.
"We have a second chance, now," Vader entreated in full swing now. "You'll see. You failed as a father, Obi-Wan. And I held that against you the longest time, but now I see that you couldn't help it. The Jedi Order destroyed your compassion. But it didn't destroy mine."
"Really?" Obi-Wan couldn't help chipping in, disregarding the disturbing mention of fathers for the moment. "The slaughter of hundreds of Jedi doesn't seem compassionate to me. In fact—"
"You're boring me, Obi-Wan," Vader said with a fresh surge of anger. Obi-Wan felt a whisper of pressure upon his windpipe in warning. It stirred the memory of Padmé choking. Anakin really was lost if he could turn on the one person he truly loved. The realisation was enough to engender silence. Obi-Wan stopped speaking, expecting his air to be shortly cut off, and fighting the counter urge to take in great gasping breaths as insurance.
Seemingly satisfied by Obi-Wan's behaviour, Vader carried on from where he left off. "I can be a father to you, now. Don't you see?" He encouraged, his tone boyishly eager. "We can be a family." There was hope there. Hope. Obi-Wan would be quick to disabuse Vader of that feeling, just as he had similarly had hope ripped from him.
Obi-Wan gestured to his throat, silently asking to be released from the mild Force Choke.
Vader complied instantly, a smug expression on his face, as if his last words carried a weight that not even Obi-Wan could discredit. Such confidence was foolhardy.
"Your delusions know no end," he started, letting his contempt show plainly. "I am not your father and nor have I ever tried to be. The Jedi forbid such attachments and with good reason. I was your Master, nothing more. It is sad that you would confuse the two."
A pause to allow the disavowal to settle in. Anakin had always needed more time than most to absorb personal information, and he doubted that had changed with his fall to the Dark Side.
"This," Obi-Wan continued, gesturing down at his body, "is merely a shell, housing a much older soul. I am a man of middle years. I am not a child. And I am not a substitute for your own insecurities, and juvenile fantasies of a family. I see that the Council was right in their original judgement. I only wish I had had the strength of character to go against Qui-Gon's last wishes. You should not have been trained."
Obi-Wan suddenly left the ground. Desperately he tried to soften the impact of his body upon the fast approaching wall, but the Force was slow to respond to his direction, and he gritted his teeth instead, braced for impact.
He hit the wall with a small thud, before sliding down. It took him a few seconds to realise that he wasn't injured, only a dull ache evidencing the collision at all. He looked over to where Vader stood frozen, and took note of his outstretched hand. That explained it then.
He got up quickly, ready for anything.
"I should not have done that. But you try me, Obi-Wan," Vader said quietly, dropping his hand.
"Why ever not? You certainly had no trouble killing the younglings!" Obi-Wan recklessly argued as he moved towards the closest approximation of shelter. Upon reaching the gurney, he released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
The sound seemed to rouse Vader from his sudden inertia, and he moved towards Obi-Wan with determination.
Obi-Wan would have none of that and circled the bed in an attempt to keep an equal distance between himself and the enemy.
Vader crossed his arms as he followed. "They were Jedi too. For the peace and security of the Empire they could not be allowed to live." There was a lot of belief there, but it sounded forced.
"And what makes me different?"
"Isn't it obvious, Obi-Wan?" Vader said with exasperation, coming to a stop.
"No. Enlighten me," Obi-Wan bit out, also halting to maintain equal distance.
"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you? Always so difficult. You had the high ground, Obi-Wan. Or don't you remember that?"
In truth, Obi-Wan couldn't remember the exact details, but he wasn't going to willingly disclose further weakness to his enemy. Especially when it could so easily be exploited. He was disadvantaged enough.
"Whatever you have to say. Say it," he responded, evading the question.
"You don't remember, do you?" Vader demanded, swiftly advancing around the gurney once again.
Obi-Wan scuttled away as fast as he could. It was hard to run with his new legs. He kept overstepping the mark being used to a longer stride, and quick reflexes were the only thing saving him from falling flat on his face. They circled like this four times before Vader stopped. "I don't have time to play musical gurney with you, Obi-Wan. You will come here. Now!"
There was a whisper in Obi-Wan's mind to accompany the order. The bastard was using the Force against him! He easily shook off the compulsion, relieved that in this nothing had changed. Then he quickly darted so that he was positioned closest to the doors, and paused – a look of wary resignation plastered on his face to stall for time. Sith, he hoped he could deceive with this face. He also hoped Vader was sensing his faked feelings, because his eyes were only just level with the bed, making his expression hard to read. Hopefully his eyes could pull it off, single handed.
The foil seemed to work, because Vader moved to stop directly opposite, hands lightly resting against the hospital bed.
Obi-Wan waited to see what Vader would do next. The wait was short because even without the impetus of the Dark Side, Anakin's impatience was legendary.
There was an ominous groan of metal upon metal as Vader exerted pressure on the steel frame. Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to figure out that there would soon be no barrier between them. Patience wasn't a Sith quality, and it was understandable that a piece of furniture wasn't going to put off a disciple of the darkness for long. He was surprised Vader had held out this long.
Obi-Wan turned tail and ran. The large crash that followed, adding greater speed to his steps as he called on the Force for strength.