Obi- Wan Kenobi watches the man floating in a bacta tank, heavily sedated and oblivious to the world around him. His robes are soiled and his hair is greasy. His beard sticks out in several different directions from all the times he has tugged on it in the last few days. He ignores the sidelong glances the other council members send his way when they come to visit and the disapproving frowns that the healers at the Jedi Temple give him when he tells them, again, that he does not want to go rest or sit down.

He does not tell them that he cannot sit down. He cannot rest. Anakin has been gone for months, and the rescue scene was so disturbing that Obi- Wan does not think he will ever be able to sleep again without trouble. Guilt stabs at him, plaguing him with un-Jedi like thoughts of anger and resentment. Anger at himself that it took him so long to find his brother, and resentment towards his fellow Jedi, that no one had seemed the least bit interested in making finding Anakin a priority for months.

His comlink chirped again, and Obi-Wan sighed and without looking reached down to ignore the call. It had rung every hour on the hour ever since the rescue team had arrived with Anakin four days ago, and while Obi – Wan had not once taken the call, he knew exactly who was on the other line. Of course he felt compassion for Senator Amidala. She was the one person that Obi – Wan felt certain loved his former padawan even more than he himself did. But Jedi should not form attachments, and besides, what could he tell her? That the man she loved was a broken mess? That it could take months before he was fully healed, to say nothing of his mental trauma? He thought of the younger man's screams as he was dragged away from his cell and shuddered.

The door swished open. Obi – Wan did not turn to look. He didn't need to; even without the Force he would have known that distinctive tap tap tap anywhere.

"Rest, you should, Obi – Wan." Obi- wan shook his head and continued staring at the floating form in the tank. He only looked down when he felt a gnarled hand on his leg. His eyes met Yoda's and he felt another stab of resentment at the compassion he saw there.

"Dwell on the past, Jedi do not, Obi – Wan. Cannot be undone what is done. Thought him dead, we all did."

"I told you he wasn't." Obi –Wan replied, much sharper than he meant to. He saw the ears twitch, and braced himself for a lecture. It never came; instead the tap tap tap resumed as Yoda made his way closer to where Anakin lay, only stopping when he reached close enough to lay a gnarled hand on the glass. After a length of time that Yoda spent staring at Anakin, and Obi-wan spent staring at Yoda, Yoda dropped his hand turned to look at Obi- Wan again.

"Much healing to do, young Skywalker has. Need you, in the coming weeks and months, he will. Not now. Know you are here, he does not." Obi – Wan rubbed his eyes, feeling for the first time the toll the past few days had wrought on his body. He looked down to Yoda again.

"Do you know what happened when we tried to extract him?"

"Read the other's reports, I have."

"So you know then. You know he screamed and fought us when we tried to get him out. Kept yelling 'no'…that he wanted to be left there."

"Punish yourself you should not."

"He tried to run himself through with my lightsaber, Master."

Yoda's ears twitched again, and Obi-Wan almost felt sorry. Almost. It was not often the Grand Master was disobeyed. More silence stretched between them, and finally Yoda moved towards the door.

"Intend to move him to the psych ward, the healers do. If you must, stay. Foolish you are being."

The door swished closed behind him and Obi- Wan rubbed his jaw, fighting a yawn before looking back at the tank. He started. Anakin's eyes were open, and he was staring at Obi – Wan through the glass. The older man waved and placed his hand on the glass. Anakin followed the movement but made no other motion.

"You are going to get out today," Obi – Wan told him through the mike, keeping his voice upbeat and positive. He smiled reassuringly at him and tried to ignore how dull and dead the younger man's eyes looked. "If you sweet talk the nurses, I bet you can get them to give you food, too." Obi- wan felt a flash of hope when Anakin's eyes drifted toward him with a spark of interest at the mention of food, but then he seemed to mute himself and the eyes became dead again.

He closed his eyes again. Obi – Wan was left with the distinct impression that he had done so to stop the conversation.