Chapter 6:

It took the ginger haired Jedi a few minutes until he was able to stand again. To his surprise his brother, Ben, had waited patiently, not making a single comment. When he was finally able to move again, the Sith lead him through the foggy landscape. Only incidental did the Jedi notice that the fog was slightly clearing and he wondered if it had been just a precaution to keep them away.

Deciding that he couldn't take the uncomfortable silence anymore, Obi-Wan asked, "Is there any reason for the braid?"
The other's expression remained neutral, "This is private."

The Jedi huffed, "I thought we were brothers... and isn't it your intention to earn my trust?" He felt strangely bold.

"Yes, but we do not know ANYTHING of each other. So I would suggest that you start asking less personal questions."

That sounded logical and stupid at the same time, at least to Obi-Wan's ears, "Alright," he thought a moment, "What's your favourite colour? Black? Red?"

Hardened eyes mustered him for a moment, "Green," and Obi-Wan suddenly felt guilty. "Yours?"

"I never really thought about it," the younger male admitted, "But I guess it would be blue..."

"Not white or beige?"

"No," Obi-Wan answered ruefully. He sighed, "That has been... inappropriate of me."

"You think?" the Sith raised an eyebrow.

"Yes..."

The two Force users had stopped walking and were gazing into each other's faces. Ben had his arms crossed, one eyebrow raised and did not look amused, while Obi-Wan stood with his hands on his hips and a little worry obvious in his eyes.

To the Jedi's surprise, his counterpart suddenly started laughing, there was even real humour in it. "You should see your face," he shook his head, "You Jedi are just too stuck-up sometimes. If you could really offend me with this, then I wouldn't be standing before you today."

"You were fooling me?" and there vanished the rest of his dignity.

"Guilty as charged," he hesitated, "But you are not really making it hard for me." Obi-Wan suddenly had the desire to throw a rock at his companion's head. It was not very Jedi-like, but at least he got the satisfaction of sticking out his tongue at the back of his brother, who had started to walk again.

"I've seen that."

"Good," Obi-Wan only retorted. Honestly, what was going on with him? He was behaving like a Padawan... could it be that the man before him was already influencing him? Then again, he had sworn not to and it was sealed with the Force Contract.

"I can't remember acting so... uncivilised since I've been a little boy," Ben suddenly spoke up, saying exactly what Obi-Wan had been thinking. "Maybe it has something to do with our reawakened bond... which you are still holding close at your side," the last part was said with an accusing undertone.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to protect my sanity," the Jedi retorted and caught up with his companion.

"Are you?" Ben tilted his head, his eyes resting on Obi-Wan.

"You yourself said that my mind could be overwhelmed..." he let the sentence trail off.

"I never said you had to open it the full way and at once," was the Sith's response.

"Touché," he sighed.

"Besides," Ben cut in, before the Jedi Master could say anything else, "are you truly protecting your sanity? I trust that you are educated about Force sensitive twins?" Obi-Wan nodded. He had read about that phenomenon. "Then you know that the children are connected with a bond that can only be broken when one of the siblings dies... The bond is an insurance and a connection between two spirits. In my opinion, we should never have been separated in the first place, we would be more balanced then."

"You can't know that. We could have turned out just like this."

"Perhaps..." his expression turned distant and Obi-Wan wondered if there was sadness in the other's eyes, or if he had just imagined it. "If we had not been separated," Ben began hesitantly, "would we have been trained together?"

"In the rare cases that situation like this occurs, the twins would be taught by one Master," Obi-Wan answered.

The Sith hummed, "Your master was Qui-Gon Jinn, am I right?"

Shocked eyes turned towards the older male's profile. "How-" before he could finish the sentence, the Sith interrupted, "Tyranus told me everything there is to know."

It took Obi-Wan a moment to remember that Tyranus was Dooku's Sith title. It was strange for him to think of Dooku this way, though. That and the older male did seem to have a great dislike for his title. "Does he know who you are?" he asked eventually.

"No, otherwise he undoubtedly would have told you with that big mouth and great ego of his," something in his blue-green eyes flashed, "Grievous and Ventress do not know either."

"Only Sidious knows then... but why would he keep you out of sight for so long?"

"I am SUPPOSED to be his secret weapon," he scoffed and golden eyes narrowed in anger, "How unfortunate for him that I am not his little toy!"

"You chose to show yourself then?"

"Make no mistake. Sidious WANTED me to gain attention, but he didn't want anybody to know my true identity or what I am truly capable of."

"What happens if he finds out that you did reveal yourself?" he couldn't quite keep the worry out of his voice. This WAS his brother after all, he could feel it in the Force.

"Nothing," and there was the insane gleam in his eyes again, "for he won't catch me." His chuckling sounded cold and it sent shivers down the younger Kenobi's spine.

There was just one thing remaining that worried the Jedi Master, "Where exactly are we heading?"

Ben tilted his head, "To our little... camp," he turned to fully look at his brother, eyes blue-green again, "Grievous and Ventress might be there too, but don't you worry, you will be save with me. They ARE outranked by me after all, besides, if they had to chose, they wouldn't chose Sidious and neither would Dooku."

"Why not?" he was determined to get as much information as possible.

"Because Sidious is a monster," there was a haunted look on his face and he hesitated, "He has a way with words and he can easily manipulate people to his advantage... he has done so countless of times already. They fear him, but there is no respect, no loyalty." Obi-Wan nodded. Every piece of information on Sidious would bring him and the Order a step closer to the Sith Lord and who knows, maybe he didn't need Ben's help after all. "This is the only way I can give you information about Sidious... they are not specific nor will they be of much help, but..." he trailed off.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "Alone they might seem useless, but a lot of information might help."

"If the Jedi weren't so blind, you would already know his identity. He IS right under your nose after all and it is just so damn frustrating that I am unable to even say his name!"

Ben's aura had darkened and his eyes had returned to their golden colour. Obi-Wan knew that he had to treat carefully know. This was the first time the other's temper had really slipped and he knew from experience that this could mean trouble. Dooku and Ventress were more powerful and aggressive when they were enraged after all. Impulsively the ginger haired Jedi reached out and grabbed the other's elbow, causing golden eyes to fix on him.

Obi-Wan gently yet firmly brought his companion to stop walking. "Ben," he tried in a soothing voice, "we will bring an end to Sidious and this war... together," he added as an afterthought.

"Together..." the older male repeated.

"It remains to be seen on which side we will stand on," Obi-Wan hastily replied.

Ben chuckled at the other's tone, "You are right..." his gaze turned distant. Obi-Wan deemed it save to let go of his elbow when golden eyes returned to their normal colour. The Jedi Master was used to his friends and comrades describing HIS eyes as changing, but his brother probably took that to a complete new level.

The Sith rummaged in one of his pockets for a moment and then pulled out his mask. Obi-Wan did not need to be told that they had almost reached the Siths' lair and he was suddenly glad to know that he would have at least ONE comrade there.

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