Note: Thanks to those who did review the first part. It was wonderful to hear what you had to say about my story and I hope that you enjoy this part as much as you enjoyed the first!
Disclaimer: This is owned by George Lucas, I am just borrowing for the duration of the story!
DELIVERANCE
by Nenya Entwhistle
For Victory, an Empty Glass
"Master will be here in a week," Anakin stated, flexing his shoulders and stretching his back. "He has been unexpectedly delayed by Order 66, says he sensed some rogue Jedi and decided to stop and slaughter them."
Obi-Wan felt his gut twist at those words. He clenched his fist, but knew he couldn't retaliate against his padawan. If he wanted to he should have done so weeks ago. Now it was too late. It seemed the fight and recovery had only made Anakin that much stronger in the Force—the Dark Side.
"You want to stop me," Anakin murmured, much closer to him than he had been. "But you know you can't, can you?"
Obi-Wan jerked away and would have moved if Anakin's metal arm hadn't snaked around his waist and stopped him. "Anakin—"
"Darth Vader," Anakin snarled and leaned close, far too close. "Why do you persist in calling me by that name?" Anakin's lips brushed against Obi-Wan's ear. "He's dead. You killed him."
"No," Obi-Wan denied fiercely and rigidly. His body tensed when he felt Anakin's body press up against him. Desire, sexual desire wasn't something he allowed himself to be familiar. But Anakin was close, far too close. "My padawan is still in there."
Anakin bent his head down and Obi-Wan gasped when he rubbed his lips against his cheek. "Do you want me to call you Master?"
Obi-Wan again tried to remove himself, but Anakin's grip was too tight. "What are you doing?"
"You said you love me," Anakin hissed. "Prove it."
"Not like…" Obi-Wan began and stopped. He remembered Padmé's face, then the sickening feeling he'd gotten when he realized Anakin and her were together. It meant he wasn't the most important person in Anakin's life—as he'd always been until recently. Even before, when he'd known and yet not admitted they were a couple, he'd been sure he was the person in a way he'd been never to Qui-Gon.
But this was wrong on so many levels. Yes, he loved Anakin, loved him more than anyone else. And yet, this wasn't proper. Jedi Masters didn't love their padawans like that. It broke the Code and he lived by it. It was his life. "I can't," Obi-Wan said hoarsely. "You know I can't."
"Then you don't love me." Anakin dropped his arm and stepped away. "You're just like the rest of them."
Obi-Wan didn't know why, but he reached and grabbed Anakin's arm. He froze when Anakin turned around, his eyes too fierce—too intense. "Padmé loved you."
"She betrayed me."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Obi-Wan asked sharply. "She loved you until her dying breath."
"She once loved me," Anakin stated flatly, "but not enough to trust in me."
"Anakin—"
"Master," Anakin snarled, "if you deliberately continue to try my patience, you will see I've learned things that would make you scream."
By the Force, he must be a fool. Obi-Wan stepped forward, so close he was mere inches away. "Is that how you treat the ones you love?"
Anakin smiled and it was cruel, beautiful thing. "Did I say I loved you?"
Obi-Wan felt his heart being torn out. He didn't want to flee, but Anakin wasn't going to leave. This was his room. Obi-Wan stared for an instant, trying to find the boy he'd raised—the young man he'd love, and he failed for the first time. He didn't see Anakin anymore. Obi-Wan whirled around and ran.
What had he done?
-
Obi-Wan kept to himself for the next day. The only communications he had was telling the Commander to keep an erratic path. Unpredictability had to be helping. But his stomach twisted to think that the random journeying had inadvertently brought Darth Sidious near other Jedi.
How long had they been on the run? Yoda had dropped Luke off at Tatooine and had probably arrived at Dagobah already. Senator Organa had taken Leia even more Yoda had left. It had been weeks, right? The days all seemed to blend together, the days he had waited and tried to believe that Anakin could be turned back to the light.
But he had failed. Then kill him, you must, Yoda's words whispered into his mind.
His hand drifted down to his lightsaber and Anakin's. He didn't know why he carried both. He should have destroyed Anakin's. It would be wiser, but Anakin had yet to try to steal the lightsaber from him. If he could use the Force, then Anakin had to be strong enough to take his lightsaber back. But he hadn't.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. Maybe meditation would help.
-
"Are you going to do that until you die?" Anakin asked, leaning against the doorway and looking far too comfortable for someone who had been on the edge of death only two weeks ago. "It won't help you know. There is no peace, no serenity, and no knowledge that could save you now, Master."
Obi-Wan shut his eyes, reaching for the Force, but he only felt a rampant darkness. It was coming from Anakin he knew, but he tried to maneuver his way around. The meditation hadn't really brought his peace, but it had calmed his nerves. He almost felt like he had numbed himself enough to do what he should have done before.
By the Force, why did he have to love Anakin?
"Your thoughts are so loud," Anakin remarked. "I can feel you trying to find the Force, but you can't. You have failed." He stepped forward until he was standing over Obi-Wan. "All is lost. You cannot save me anymore."
Obi-Wan snapped his eyes open and he reached for Anakin's lightsaber. He tossed it to him and then grabbed his own. "Then you leave me no choice," he declared flatly. "I cannot allow a Sith to live."
"Do you really think you can kill me?" Anakin asked. "You couldn't then and you can't now."
Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber up and swung it at Anakin. He almost thought he'd land the blow, but Anakin brought his lightsaber up to block. Obi-Wan felt relief gnaw at his insides. How was he supposed to do this? He needed to purge his feelings; he had to forget this had ever been his padawan. This wasn't Anakin, not anymore.
"I will do what I must," Obi-Wan said.
"Then you must," Anakin countered, parrying Obi-Wan's blow with far too much ease.
His thoughts, his fears had been correct. Anakin's power had increased and would only keep growing. He couldn't be at full strength yet, not when he'd been so weak. To even think of how much power Anakin would have when he was fully well, Obi-Wan didn't even want to let his mind grasp the idea.
Obi-Wan felt his attacks switch to defenses; it was all he could do to meet each of Anakin's blows. Slowly he felt himself inching backwards until he ran into the wall. Then his lightsaber was knocked from his hand and Anakin's was coming for his throat. He flinched when Anakin turned it off.
"Unfortunately," Anakin remarked, holding his hand out and force-calling Obi-wan's lightsaber, "you aren't strong enough."
Obi-Wan stared into Anakin's swirling eyes. "Why?"
"As I said before," Anakin stated flatly, "Master may want you alive for questioning."
-
Anakin was a paradox. One moment, Obi-Wan was sure his former padawan wanted to kill him. The next, he was certain of nothing. Obi-Wan felt like he was standing on the edge between fire and ice. He didn't know what to do. Meditation was no solace. Anakin seemed to enjoy plaguing him in those times, knowing his presence would be interruption enough.
Obi-Wan groaned when he felt heat curling in his belly. It burned in a wrong way. He hadn't felt this sensation in years, not since… adolescence when he didn't know how to control himself as much as he did now. But Anakin—Darth Vader—no, Anakin knew how to upset his balance.
"You said you love me. Prove it."
But he couldn't. He couldn't. Not like that.
-
"Master," Anakin said, walking into the room with a fluidity that belied the fact he had steel for legs, "meditating again?"
Actually he wasn't, but he was sitting in the position. He defaulted to it when he was nervous. It was like his body knew exactly how to get comfortable, even if he wasn't. Obi-Wan breathed in deeply then exhaled. Be one with the Force and at peace.
"You should know it does little good," Anakin murmured, kneeling down besides him. "Communing with the Force draws you further and further away from the reality of now, which is the Dark Side and the Sith."
Obi-Wan tried to relax himself, but it wasn't working—not when Anakin was so close. By the Force, Anakin was within an arm's reach and looked good. The thoughts Anakin had put into his head were wrong, utterly wrong. Why was Anakin doing this? He loved Padmé. Her, not him.
She had said, "He loves you so much, so much…"
But all Obi-Wan heard in his head was Anakin saying, "Did I say I loved you?"
The denial hurt and Obi-Wan knew it shouldn't. He shouldn't care if his padawan loved him. He should be glad Anakin didn't. No attachments, they were dangerous. Look at what Anakin had done already…
Obi-Wan froze when Anakin touched him, his leather covered hand caressing his cheek. "It's no use," Anakin said. "You're burning."
He turned away from Anakin's piercing eyes. "Leave please."
"Why should I?" Anakin asked without a hint of mercy, his touch growing bolder. "You want me here, don't you? You did before." His fingers stopped moving, his thumb resting over Obi-Wan's lips. "Have you changed your mind so quickly? Don't you want to save me?"
"Do you want to be saved?" Obi-Wan asked hoarsely. His body was raging with a blaze he didn't want to acknowledge. He had to fight this, he couldn't succumb to this desire. This was his apprentice! Not… just some being for his lust.
"Have you given up?" Anakin inquired.
"Do you want to be saved?"
Anakin's hand dropped from his cheek and he lowered himself into the meditation position. "Do you think you can save me?"
Obi-Wan had no answer. This Anakin was different. This Anakin was impulsive, reckless in an entirely new way and yet—there was a certain emotion lurking in Anakin he did recognize. Anakin wanted and he didn't know what he wanted. It was enough to know that he did.
It was hard to miss when it clung to Anakin like the Force.
-
That night Obi-Wan dreamt of Anakin. It was entirely improper. Anakin was half-naked and sleeping in their shared quarters. But they hadn't shared living quarters in a year and more, not since Anakin had become a Jedi Knight—not since Anakin had started spending much of his time with Padmé.
Anakin's right hand was whole, not made of steel and metal and non-living material. It was real and it was drifting down, then moving in a regular motion that drew moans from his padawan. Obi-Wan knew what Anakin was doing, but he couldn't rip his eyes away. He was watching and by the Force he kept watching.
Only when Anakin's dark eyes—blood red—looked at him did Obi-Wan jerk away and bolted up to an upright position, his chest heaving and his eyes opening. It was so real that he wildly looked around, expecting to see Anakin. Thank the Force that he didn't. He didn't know how to face Anakin now.
This was wrong. He knew that Anakin in his dreams. That Anakin was no Jedi Knight. That Anakin in bed had two real hands. That Anakin was still very much his padawan and he had dreamt of him like that. This was so wrong.
-
"Disturbance," Anakin remarked the next morning, walking into Obi-Wan's room as if it were a normal day like any other, "late last night."
Obi-Wan could almost believe that they were back at Coruscant and Anakin was just his padawan coming back from lessons, except the tone was wrong. Anakin's voice was harsher and more deliberate, and he said things the younger Anakin never would. After all, Anakin wasn't himself—Obi-Wan just didn't want to wrap his mind around that thought. He would cling to the idea that Anakin was still Anakin.
There must be hope. Didn't Padmé say there was still good in him? Somewhere?
"Dark and unwanted," Anakin murmured, lowering himself onto Obi-Wan's bed. "You would like nothing more than to have it ripped from you and discarded," he hissed. "Do you think I do not want the same?"
His hand reached up and caressed Obi-Wan's cheek. It burned not his face but further down. Obi-Wan shifted his hips uncomfortably. Why was Anakin doing this? What of Padmé? This was… dangerous.
"For this feeling to go away?"
Obi-Wan wanted to jerk his face away, but Anakin's other hand was there, gripping his chin. "Let go."
"No."
Anakin bent his head and shifted his body; Obi-Wan tensed his own immediately. It wasn't only his muscles that stiffened he thought with a groan as Anakin settled on top of him, his abdomen pressed against Obi-Wan's sensitive erection. Obi-Wan couldn't turn his face away when Anakin's face shadowed his. He tried to make his lips unforgiving, but they gave away to the soft pressure.
Tender was Obi-Wan's first thought before Anakin's tongue darted between his lips. It was heat, such blazing heat. Obi-Wan felt like everything was scorching and he couldn't take it. He tried to use the Force to push Anakin away, but he couldn't feel it. There was only Anakin.
It was Anakin that pulled away after the beginning tentativeness had worn off. "You want me," Anakin murmured in a surprisingly hoarse voice. Obi-Wan didn't know if Anakin was playing him, but it didn't sound like it. "I want you."
Obi-Wan gazed into Anakin's lighter colored eyes. They were still swirling, but there was no doubt the darkness was fading—if only a little. Would this, would this evoked gentleness be able to pull Anakin from the Dark Side? But wasn't emotions the pathway to it? Obi-Wan felt flooded with confusion and uncertainty.
"Let me have you," Anakin whispered, lowering his face and pressing his lips against Obi-Wan's exposed throat, "Master."
He could not kill Anakin, so as Master Yoda had said: Then redeem him, you will.
Obi-Wan's lifted his hands and grazed his knuckles against Anakin's soft cheeks. "You are beautiful," he said, stunned at how deeply he did mean them. When Anakin raised his head and looked into him with his half-shuttered eyes, Obi-Wan knew it was no time to lie or to hide. "I want you."
Anakin lowered his face and kissed him. This time it was more driven, less gentle—but not brutal, not anything like how a Sith should be. At least, that was the vague hope in Obi-Wan's mind. This had to be how Anakin was like with Padmé. This wasn't about Darth Vader. This was Anakin and his love. It had to be.
And so Obi-Wan lowered his walls.
-
Fucking Anakin was like dying a little each time. Obi-Wan gasped, moaned, and clung to Anakin as he drove his cock into him. The speed, the heat, and the nerves were too much. It was more than the physical sensations. Anakin poured the Force into this—this passionate convergence.
"Master," Anakin rasped when he came. "Uahh…"
Obi-Wan felt Anakin's metal hand grasp his cock tightly, firmly, and then started to move ever so slowly. The leather, the friction, by the Force it was too much. He spent himself in one last surge of fulfillment.
It was Anakin's lips, curved into a smile that reassured Obi-Wan. It was Anakin's heart beating close to his own that reminded Obi-Wan that even if this was wrong, it felt right. It was Anakin's words, however, that always crashed the illusion.
"Good fuck," Anakin murmured. "Almost as good as Padmé."
Obi-Wan tensed, his ass tightening and he winced at the ache. He knew there would be more painful reminders of how he wasn't really what Anakin wanted, just what he had so he wanted anyways. Never before had Obi-Wan realized what a leech his padawan truly was. Anakin needed, he wanted, so he took and took until there was nothing.
Anakin's hands drifted down his side and curled around his hips. "I can feel your love." Anakin bent his head and pressed his lips against Obi-Wan's nipple. "It echoes."
Tensing and shuddering, Obi-Wan groaned when Anakin started sucking. Whatever thoughts, whatever doubts he had—they fled, they faded until there was only Anakin.
-
They were lying in bed together, Anakin's arms around his waist and his face pressed on his chest. Obi-Wan liked these moments most. They were less debauched and it was infinitely gentler. This wasn't about sex. This was something else. And his mind could forget that Anakin didn't love him.
Obi-Wan stroked Anakin's dark blond hair, threading his fingers through the strands. When had he started to love his padawan? The attachment had started before Anakin had been with Padmé. But that was more of a brotherly one, he thought. One of friendship for he had never considered himself as a father figure to Anakin. No, they were too close in age and if… Qui-Gon had lived, Anakin would have been his next padawan. Then they'd truly be brothers.
"You think too much," Anakin murmured. "Stop."
"You cannot control someone's thought," Obi-Wan chided, wondering when things had slipped a bit back to the way they had been.
"People will do anything for those they love," Anakin declared softly. "This is a small thing unless you've lied."
"Why would I lie?"
"To manipulate me, to use your love against me," Anakin answered half-heartedly. "To make me believe."
"Why should it matter? You don't—"
"I shouldn't," Anakin whispered sharply. "I shouldn't. But I do."
Obi-Wan sucked in some air and choked as it went down the wrong way. "What?"
"I've always loved you," Anakin hissed and lifted his head off Obi-Wan's chest. His face hovered over Obi-Wan's, his eyes so much lighter than before. "Even when you hated me."
"I never hated—"
"You lie," Anakin snarled, turning his face and moving away. "After Qui-Gon died," Obi-Wan flinched instinctively when he heard Anakin say it aloud, "you took me as your padawan because he requested it as his death wish. It wasn't because of me. It was because of him! But I would have done everything and anything for you, but you never turned to me not until—"
"It was too late?" Obi-Wan finished sadly.
Anakin didn't answer.
-
The days went by and Obi-Wan almost forgot that a Sith Lord, a Master was chasing after them. It was easy to let go of such concerning thoughts when Anakin was sucking his cock or licking his nipples. Easier not to think, but when he was alone he did remember and regret crept into his being. All this would be gone.
The door to his bedroom opened and Anakin stood there absolutely naked. Any doubts, any worries fled Obi-Wan's mind. He pulled his tunic off of him, lifted an eyebrow, and Anakin came.
-
"Fuck me."
Obi-Wan paused, his tongue hanging out of his mouth since he'd been in the process of licking his way down Anakin's chest and stomach to his cock. "What?"
Fuck me, Obi-Wan heard in his head.
Obi-Wan lifted his head and gazed down at his former padawan. Why?
It had been weeks since they had used the Force to speak to each other. It was like Anakin had been trying to deny any remnant of their former relationship. But if Anakin was allowing this, maybe he was coming around. And… by the Force, Obi-Wan could hope.
I want you.
Do you?
Please… Obi-Wan groaned when he felt Anakin's steel hand spread lubricant over his hard cock. Master.
"I love you," Obi-Wan moaned sometime in the middle of his thrusts. "I do."
When it was over, when he was spent—Anakin held him.
-
A loud booming sound broke the peace and embrace. Anakin's lips stopped the onslaught and his body froze. Obi-Wan felt dread pulse through his blood. It was not like the Jedi to feel such things, but then Anakin was wholly encompassing, influencing.
"He's here," Anakin stated flatly. He pulled his clothes on, grabbing his cloak, and summoned his lightsaber. "Get dressed."
Obi-Wan didn't bother to argue. He dressed himself quickly and when he was done, he caught Anakin looking at him with a frown on his face. Obi-Wan's hand itched for his lightsaber, but he had no idea where Anakin kept it. It could be anywhere, but he doubted Anakin had locked it up. It was somewhere, probably close. Sometimes he felt like he could almost feel it.
"Follow me," Anakin snapped, striding out of the room.
Obi-Wan was left no choice but to tail him.
-
Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan did not fear anyone and so he felt nothing for the Sith Lord. Chancellor Palpatine meant nothing to him. All his attention was directed at his padawan, who knelt before Darth Sidious.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be! His mind screamed. Anakin should have been standing tall and Darth Sidious should have been on his knees. Anakin was the chosen one. He was the one who was meant to destroy the Sith, not join them.
"You have failed me, my apprentice," Darth Sidious hissed, his hand on his lightsaber. "Why is he not dead? Did you not understand Order 66? The Jedi are to be exterminated!"
"How did you find us?" Anakin asked monotonously.
"Your Force signature cannot be hidden from me, my apprentice. Did you really think your shields are a match for my probe?"
Anakin stood up and shrugged his cloak off, thrusting it at Obi-Wan. "Will you spare him?"
Darth Sidious threw his head back and his hood fell from his heavily scarred face, laughing in a hoarse, harsh manner. "Do you even need to ask such a useless question?"
"It is a small thing."
Obi-Wan felt the unmistakable feel, Force and physical, of his lightsaber hidden within the robes. He glanced at Anakin's back and then at Darth Sidious. He couldn't see Anakin's face, but the tense set of his shoulders indicated the unrest. A strange fluttering of what might be flurried in his stomach.
"What is small is not always weak," Darth Sidious snarled and his lightsaber blazed into life with a fierce strength. "Move aside, Darth Vader."
Anakin lowered his head and stepped to side. Obi-Wan felt the little hope die once more. He knew there was no way he could defeat Darth Sidious alone. Maybe Anakin had forgotten the lightsaber was hidden in his robes. Sometimes Anakin could be quite… reckless.
Darth Sidious moved forward and the smile on his face was terrible. "Tell me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, where is Yoda?"
His shields, already thick and solid, reinforced themselves exponentially. Obi-Wan was not about to endanger Yoda… and Anakin's children. By the Force, he'd forgotten to tell Anakin about Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan threw his eyes desperately at Anakin and was relieved to see Anakin wasn't still turned away from him. Anakin was looking at him and his lips were moving. They were saying something, but Obi-Wan couldn't make them out—not when he felt Darth Sidious' mind slam into his own.
The walls around his mind and secrets were breaking, dissolving. Obi-Wan crashed to his knees, his fingers curling around the lightsaber, but he couldn't—couldn't move to counter. His grip was slipping and his wide eyes saw Darth Sidious' lightsaber arcing down to deal the death blow.
Yoda flashed into his mind, but not the memory Darth Sidious was after. He was almost there; Yoda was talking to him, telling him to save Anakin if he could and if he couldn't… he knew what he must do. The scenes were shifting now to when Yoda had told him—
"Noooooo!"
Obi-Wan vaguely made out Anakin's voice when his padawan's lightsaber like the years before with Count Dooku, stopped his certain death. The Force attack abruptly left and Obi-Wan felt the numbed feeling leave him. His fingers wrapped around his lightsaber and he wrenched it free from the cloak.
He whirled to the action and saw Darth Sidious and his Anakin fighting.
"You would betray your allegiance to me… for him?"
Anakin's face said everything, the pain and the answer.
"You would have been my greatest apprentice," Darth Sidious declared, using his greater command of the Dark Side against Anakin to knock his lightsaber aside. He forced Anakin to go onto the defensive and soon had Anakin against the wall. "But I will kill you if I must."
Obi-Wan had gotten close, he was close enough. He raised his lightsaber to strike the final blow, but Darth Sidious jerked around a little and his hand emitted a Force lightning. It struck Obi-Wan hard in the chest and he cried out—or was it Anakin?
"Please,"Anakin begged, falling to his knees. His padawan didn't plead. That wasn't him. "Please…"
"Darth Vader," Darth Sidious said, "we must destroy all your weaknesses."
This was it, Obi-Wan thought. But Darth Sidious had underestimated Anakin just like he had. Anakin commanded the Force and used it to thrust Darth Sidious aside. He summoned his lightsaber and Obi-Wan forced himself to his feet. Like old times, he reflected momentarily as they moved forward in a tandem only close fighting partners had.
But these weren't old times. In the past, it was always Anakin who was overlooked. The enemy always focused on him, but Darth Sidious knew his apprentice was more dangerous. Darth Sidious concentrated on Anakin, deflecting what blows Obi-Wan could get in with a child's ease.
If only Yoda were here…
Anakin lost an arm, but thank the Force for implants. Anakin's face twisted in a shallow kind of pain, but his lightsaber was back in his other arm before Obi-Wan could dare to blink. It was fast and not fast enough. Anakin parried one blow and then Darth Sidious' lightsaber sank into Anakin's chest. Like Qui-Gon's.
Anakin didn't scream in pain, but his eyes rolled back into his head. Obi-Wan saw the irises. They weren't dark anymore—they were light. Anakin's lips were moving, they were forming three words over and over again. I love you.
Obi-Wan felt a surge of rage, a desire for destruction that could have led him to the Dark Side if it were not for love. He pushed forward, despite Darth Sidious' overwhelming power and superiority. Darth Maul had underestimated him, and so too had Darth Sidious, when in losing an arm—he gained the Sith Lord's head.
The pain was horrible, but Obi-Wan made it to Anakin's side and lifting his padawan's—his lover's head to his lap. "Anakin?" Obi-Wan placed his hand over Anakin's wound. "I love you."
Anakin's eyes filled with torment gazed into his. But there wasn't only anguish. There was something else. Anakin opened his mouth, trying to say something, but in that momentarily look everything was conveyed. His despair and his guilt, and his redemption.
His padwan repented and died.
Obi-Wan cradled Anakin for minutes, hours—days? Time meant nothing. Not in life, not in death. There was the Force, and then there was love.
It was enough.
The End.
Please review, it's your last chance!
A/N: I haven't written any Anakin/Obi-wan fic since I finished this one, haven't really had the need as this satisfied my muse. I really do hope that you have enjoyed this story as it has a special place amongst my stories, as it's one of the few I enjoy rereading myself. And if you would leave a review, as this is the last part, that would be great!