Chapter 7
They swept him away the moment they arrived on the ship. Anakin watched how a bunch of healers huddled around the lifeless form on the stretcher, rushing towards the medbay.
For a moment he was frozen in place, but then his feet finally complied. He caught up to the medics in the medbay and was immediately stopped by one of the troopers there.
"Sir, please. You can't go in there," said the man, directing him away from the treatment room he was about to rush in and moved him to one of the plastoid chairs lining the walls in the hallway.
"But, I-," his words got stuck in his throat.
I just need to know that he is alive.
"The medics are doing everything they can," the clone assured him, with a patience he was never able to muster.
The plastoid creaked when he leaned back on the chair. "He's gone…," he muttered absently, "… in the Force, I mean. It's like… he just left."
The other man sat down next to him. " I don't know much about your capabilities, sir... but I can imagine that being cut off from the Force for several years can have its impact."
Anakin bit down hard on his lip, feeling guilty. "And it was all my fault," he ran a hand through his hair, "… I should have found him earlier."
Tears burned in the corners of his eyes but he forced himself to not let them fall.
"Sir, I-," the man stopped and Anakin found a pair of brown eyes locked on him, "Let me be honest with you… sir." He was searching for words and his fingers were twitching involuntarily.
He's a shiny.
"You want to tell me… that he won't make it," Anakln stated vainly, searching the clone's features.
The medic averted his gaze. "… his injuries are severe… and then there's the infection – his arm-," he choked and clamped a hand over his mouth.
No more words were needed.
Anakin continued staring at the door that led towards the treatment room, his mind blank. His friend – his father - was probably dying right behind this wall. And he was just sitting here, doing nothing.
His vision suddenly blurred and only as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his still dirty tunic and saw how the fabric turned into a darker shade, did he realize that he was crying.
"Master?", a voice in front of him sounded and he jerked his head up, catching sight of his padawan.
"Ahsoka," he breathed, catching his breath and clumsily attempting to dry his face. It didn't work.
His padawan moved to his left, sitting down beside him. "…Master Windu told me everything," she said quietly, kneading her fingers.
Anakin swallowed around the lump in his throat.
"… he said it didn't look good," Ahsoka continued cautiously, eyeing him from the side.
"No… it does not," he finally choked out, forcing himself to breath in again.
"Sir, I… I need to get going," the medic, whose presence Anakin had almost forgotten, spoke up again, "… I'll keep you updated on any changes."
Anakin tipped his head slightly to indicate that he understood and watched the man hurry away.
"… you think he has a chance?"
Ahsoka's question ripped him back to reality and if felt like a bucket of ice-cold water has just been dumped over his head. He straightened his back and locked his eyes on the door to the operating room. "Obi-Wan has always been… stubborn," he laughed hollowly, "… saw him walking away from things no one should have survived."
"Why shouldn't he get through it now too?"
Oh, that teenage naivety. I wish I still had that, too.
Anakin huffed and looked at his padawan. "Because things are different this time, Snips," he uttered, watching how her eyes dimmed.
The teenager didn't respond for a moment and instead set her focus on the door in front of them.
Time almost seemed to grind to a halt as they sat in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Anakin could sense his padawan's fear and anxiety like it was his own. Unconsciously he took his left arm and pulled the girl closer to his side.
Ahsoka didn't protest and let her head lean against his shoulder. "What was he like…?", she finally asked, shifting slightly so that he could hold her properly.
"Obi-Wan? He was… gentle," Anakin huffed fondly, "… gave the best hugs. But at the same time he would fight tooth and nail for something he cared for… never underestimate him."
"You know, they still show the padawans the footage from the reactor room on Naboo."
"He always hated that," Anakin admitted, remembering the look on Obi-Wan's face when he first took note, "Never said it out loud… but I could see that it was bothering him."
"I never liked it either… the video I mean."
Anakin only grunted in response, somehow finding it difficult to make conversation.
Ahsoka shifted beside him. "I know it's silly… but can you tell me more about him? …," she halted and quickly added, "only if you want to, of course."
He blew out a breath and again raked a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Ahsoka. There's- there's so much to tell… and at the same time nothing at all."
His padawan simply nodded and Anakin's heart ached even more than it already did.
He pursed his lips and let his shoulders drop, a small smile forming on his face. "… I once saw him kissing the Duchess of Mandalore."
Anakin stared tensely at the still form of his master, waiting for any signs of him waking up.
"Give him a little time, Padawan," Vokara Che smiled gently as she entered the room, "He's bumped his head pretty good."
Grumbling, Anakin rocked his foot back and forth, eyeing the bandage that wrapped around Obi-Wan's head. "... I swear it wasn't my intention," he mumbled, finally looking away.
"Crashing the speeder?" the master healer asked, smirking as she studied Obi-Wan's file.
"Yeah," Anakin replied quietly, embarrassed.
"And what was a thirteen-year-old Padawan doing behind the wheel?"
"I-...," he put in before stopping himself. He didn't want to give Obi-Wan away.
Vokara sighed and set the file aside. "Look Anakin, I'm not going to get you or your master in trouble, okay? So can you tell me what exactly happened?"
Anakin bit his lips. "I was trying to prove to Master Obi-Wan that I'm a good pilot... normally he never lets me fly here on Coruscant, but today he gave in. It was all going well, too, until I missed an oncoming speeder..."
Master Che looked at him with understanding. "And you tried to dodge."
Nodding curtly, he looked back to his master in the bed before him. "When I lost control, he still tried to intervene. But it was too late...on impact he crashed head first through the windshield."
"I guessed so much," the healer commented, "Well, luckily your master has quite a thick skull, so it remained only with the laceration and a concussion."
She looked at him seriously. "You two were more than lucky today, you should be aware of that."
Anakin said nothing, letting his shame seep into the Force.
It was his fault. Again.
"Your master needs rest for now, but I'm confident he'll wake up soon."
"Okay," Anakin breathed, gripping the edge of the chair, "...I'll be waiting here."
Vokara hummed and took Obi-Wan's file back. "You too should try to get some rest, Padawan. Don't let me make you."
"Can I at least sit with him an hour more?" he asked, looking up at the healer with pleading eyes.
Master Che let her gaze wander between him and Obi-Wan before finally relenting. "Very well, one hour. No more.'
With that, she left the room and Anakin was once again alone with his master.
He forced himself to wait in silence.
It took Obi-Wan 30 minutes to finally open his eyes.
"Master!" exclaimed Anakin, hurrying over to the bed.
Obi-Wan groaned and blinked a few times, before his gaze finally found his student's. "Anakin…," he mumbled, clearly struggling to speak, "… are you alright?"
His padawan scoffed. "I am perfectly fine, master. You hit your head pretty bad though."
Grumbling, Obi-Wan gingerly prodded at the bandage around his head and winced as his fingers hit the wound beneath. "… I remember."
Anakin continued to watch him for a second before he decided to say something. "…you scared me, you know?", he blurted out, "Seeing you smash through that glass I mean."
His master shifted on the bed so that he was facing him. "… I'm sorry, Anakin. That was not my intention."
"I know," he answered, "… how does your head feel? Should I get Master Che?"
Obi-Wan closed his eyes shortly. "No, it's okay… just a little dizzy."
"I guessed so," Anakin retorted pitying. He hated seeing his master miserable.
Then a thought crossed his mind. "You missed a call, by the way," he said, remembering the commlink that still sat on the small table next to the bed.
His master pried his eyes open again, ogling at the device. "… is it the council?", he grumbked.
Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know… didn't check."
With what Obi-Wan would normally call a 'frivolous use' of the Force, he flicked the device in his direction. "Can you check?", he asked, sounding so exhausted that Anakin had the feeling that the man might just fall asleep right away, "My head hurts way too much to read anything..."
Anakin lifted his eyesbrows as he caught the commlink. "Are you sure I shouldn't get Master Che? She could certainly give you something for the pain."
Obi-Wan only grunted annoyed and motioned at the commlink. "Can you just do as I asked, Anakin?" he intoned again, "...if it was the council, don't tell me. I'm too tired to handle their endless discussions."
This made Anakin laugh a little. "Don't let Master Windu hear you say that."
"Oh, he already knows, padawan."
Silently chuckling, Anakin turned to his master's request and activated the commlink to see who had called. What he saw made him frown.
"… who's Satine?", he blurted out, confused.
Despite his state, Obi-Wan processed this information surprisingly fast. Eyes widening, he grabbed the commlink from his padawan – or at least he intended to. The harsh movement apparently was too much for his head and instead he flopped back halfway onto the bed, squeezing his eyes shut with a pained grimace.
"Woah, easy, master," gaped Anakin, immediately setting the commlink aside and helping his master to lie back properly again, "Is anything wrong?"
Obi-Wan blew out a breath, still holding his eyes closed. "… I forgot her," he whispered sadly, "We were supposed to meet this evening."
Anakin shook his head. "It's not like it was your choice to be involved in a speeder accident."
"To be honest, I think I actively made that decision when I got in the speeder with you," chuckled Obi-Wan dryly.
"Hey," chided Anakin, a little hurt by the statement.
Obi-Wan, of course, noticed and stretched out one of his hands and let it rest on his arm. "I'm joking, Anakin," he apologized.
"… so who is Satine?"
"She is the Duchess of Mandalore."
He somehow hadn't expected that. "You were supposed to go on a date with the Duchess of Mandalore?", he asked disbelievingly.
"Not a date," Obi-Wan immediately corrected him, "We're old friends… and since she is visiting Coruscant for a few days, we thought we might as well catch up with each other… even though it is not happening anymore I guess."
Obi-Wan genuinely looked sad because of that.
"Then you should call her…," suggested Anakin honestly, "Tell her what happened."
"I don't think my brain is properly functioning right now, padawan," replied his master exhausted, "… I guess I'll just have to make it up to her another time."
Anakin was about to argue about that when Master Che entered the room.
"Obi-Wan, you're awake."
The ginger-haired jedi looked up. "Just barely."
The healer approached the bed. "How does your head feel?"
"It hurts, but it is manageable."
She watched him for a moment, apparently deciding if he was telling the truth. "Any nausea?"
"A bit," Obi-Wan supplied simply, giving evidence on how tired he really felt.
"Okay," Master Che took some notes on a datapad, "Let me just run through some quick tests and then I will get you some medication."
Anakin watched how she then proceeded to shine a light into his master's eyes and tested a few reflexes.
When she apparently was satisfied with the results, she stepped back. "I'd like to keep you here for the night in case anything changes. But I am confident that you can go home tomorrow morning," she turned to Anakin, "As long as he is not alone, that is."
"I'll look after him," he promised, even though his thoughts were still stuck at their previous conversation.
"Okay," she again took some notes and then stepped back from the bed, "Now, Padawan Skywalker, I think you should also go and get some rest. Your master will be in good hands."
Anakin shot the man in question a look and received a small approving hand gesture.
"Of course," he stood up from the chair and bowed shortly, "I'll be back in the morning then."
Master Che then ushered him out of the room and soon after he found himself back at their shared quarters. It was strange being here, without his master. He had never admitted it openly but the man was like a father to him. In the first year after leaving Tatooine he had been afraid, had never even once managed to fit in at the temple. But Obi-Wan had been nothing but patient with him.
His thoughts cycled back to the missed call.
Satine Kryze.
It seemed that his Master had been really looking forward to seeing her.
Anakin got an idea. If Obi-Wan couldn't come to her, why couldn't she at least come to them?
It was his luck that he had remembered the comm frequency which had been displayed.
Grinning, he walked over to their comm unit in the living area and dialed the frequency.
It took a few seconds but then someone answered the call.
"Hello?", a female voice asked.
Suddenly he found himself at a loss of words. What was he going to say?
"Uh, hello? …Am I speaking to Satine Kryze?", he stuttered insecurely.
He heard how she shifted at the other end of the line. "Who am I talking to?"
He could do this. "I'm Anakin Skywalker… the padawan of Master Kenobi."
Instantly her tone softened. "You must be the boy he has been talking about all the time," she chuckled, before turning serious again, "Why are you calling me, Anakin? Did something happen?"
"I..," he hesitated for a second, "I heard that you and Master Obi-Wan were supposed to meet each other today…"
"Yes, I tried to reach him because of that," she confirmed, "Is everything alright?"
Anakin could practically hear the worry in her voice.
"Well, no…," he started, "We got caught in a speeder crash today and… Master Kenobi might be stuck in the Healing Halls because of that."
Satine gasped. "Oh my, are you two alright?"
Anakin smiled to himself. He began to like her somehow. "I am fine… but my master hit his head quite harshly and now has a severe concussion."
"… that sounds like Obi," he heard her mumble.
"The healers said that he will be fine though," he added quickly, "He just needs to rest for a while and if everything goes well he might be coming home tomorrow."
"That's good to hear. Will you tell him I said get well soon?"
Anakin bit his lips, now getting a bit nervous. "Actually… I thought that you might want to come by tomorrow… he would be happy to see you, I guess."
There was a moment of silence and his heart was hammering in his throat.
Please don't say no.
"I'd like to, Anakin," she finally said, "But is that really okay for your master? If he is not feeling well…"
"I don't think he would mind," he said quickly, trying to convince her.
"Very well then," she agreed after a moment of contemplation, "Then I hope to see you two tomorrow."
They then said their goodbyes and as soon as the call ended, Anakin jumped up, delighted about his achievement.
Now his master only needed to come home.
Next day
Anakin busied himself in the kitchen while Obi-Wan had lied down on the couch, a cooling pad pressed against his forehead and struggling not to fall asleep. The poor man still didn't know what his padawan had planned.
"Are you sure you don't need help?", the man called from the living area, leaning a bit to the side so that he could peer into the kitchen.
"No, master," responded Anakin and continued cutting the vegetables, "We made that dish so many times, I guess I can manage on my own."
Obi-Wan frowned. "Since when are you so keen on cooking? I usually have to force you into the kitchen, don't I?"
He halted his movements, thinking. "Just think of it as making amends...," he finally lied, "After all, I put you in this situation."
His master chuckled and shifted the ice pack a bit. "We could have just ordered something from Dex or gone to the cafeteria."
"Master Che told you not to move around so much. For Dex, we would have had to get the food. And for the cafeteria, we both know the food isn't particularly good," he argued.
It seemed like Obi-Wan was starting to smell a rat.
"Anakin, what are you hiding?", asked his master exasperated.
"Noth-," he put in reply when the doorbell rang.
She's here.
"Expecting company?" asked Obi-Wan, starting to get up.
Anakin held him back. "Lie back down, master. I got this."
After making sure his master really wasn't going to try to get up again, he walked quickly to the door.
With a grin, he opened the door and found himself face to face with a blonde haired woman with bright blue eyes.
"Hello, Anakin," she greeted him with a smile.
Force, she was beautiful.
Remembering his manners, he bowed briefly and let her in. "Duchess, please come in."
She chuckled and stepped past him. "You may call me Satine, my dear."
"Of course, Duch- Satine."
Satine stopped and looked at him. "So where is he?" she finally asked.
Anakin pointed around the corner. "He's on the couch," he grinned slyly, "Unsuspecting, of course."
He then walked back into the living room first, noticing that Obi-Wan's eyes were closed and the cold pack had slipped out of his hand.
"Is he asleep?" asked Satine in a whisper.
Shaking his head, Anakin tiptoed closer. "No, I think he's just dozing."
The Duchess nodded, then crept closer with careful steps and picked up the cold pack. Then she squatted down next to the headboard of the sofa and gently pressed the cold pack against the bandage around Obi-Wan's head.
It took his master a moment to open his eyes.
Anakin watched how the man blinked a few times and then realized what - or rather who - he was looking at.
"Sat-," he shot up and she thankfully caught him as he almost toppled off the couch as he lost his balance, "Satine."
"Careful," she chided softly, guiding him back so that he was leaning back again, "We don't want you to have to go right back to the Healing Halls."
Obi-Wan, embarrassed, took the cold pack from her hand and held it to his own head. "I- what are you doing here?"
"After you didn't show up yesterday, I got worried and decided to come check on you."
Somehow Anakin was glad that she didn't say that he had called her.
"Oh," his master blurted out, "… I'm sorry for not telling you."
"It's okay, Obi."
Giving the two a moment, Anakin went back into the kitchen and finished up their dinner. Proudly, he finally prepared three servings and carried them out to the living room.
"Food's ready," he announced, placing the plates on the dining table, whereupon both adults turned to him.
"This looks really good," Satine commented, visibly surprised.
"Thanks," Anakin brushed, "Master Obi-Wan taught me."
Satine snorted and shot his master a look. "You can cook?" she questioned.
Obi-Wan screwed up his face and swung his legs over the side of the couch so he was sitting upright. "Why so surprised?"
"Because the Obi-Wan I remember managed to somehow burn everything he got his hands on."
Huffing, he slowly stood up, gripping the back of the couch as support. "I guess being responsible for a Padawan changed me."
He then carefully shuffled over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs. "Anakin, could you bring me my painkillers?" he then asked with a grimace, placing a hand to his temple.
"Of course," Anakin answered hastily und rushed to get the medication from the refresher. He caught how Satine gingerly asked his master if she should get him a new icepack and he declined gratefully.
"Here," he breathed as he returned and pressed two tablets into his master's hand, only to quickly fetch another glass of water.
"Thank you, padawan," Obi-Wan said after washing the pills down with the water. Then he eyed the food. "This does look excellent."
Anakin grinned from ear to ear, proud that he had succeeded in the surprise.
They spent the meal swapping stories and before they knew it, everything was eaten. Satine then helped him clean up after they had both banished Obi-Wan to the couch after he had wanted to do the dishes himself.
By the time they were done, it was already late evening. Suddenly feeling tired, Anakin decided that the two of them might want to be alone for a bit.
The Force sang in agreement.
"I think I am tired," he finally said goodbye, "I'll go to bed, if that is okay for you."
Obi-Wan looked up from his place on the couch. "Of course, Anakin. Sleep well."
Anakin smiled briefly, then disappeared into his room.
Hours later, he could still hear their hushed voices from the next room, so he curiously opened his room door a crack to peek out. The two were sitting next to each other, deep in conversation.
A thought crept into his mind and a grin spread across his face. As quietly as possible, he crept briefly through his room and grabbed the small Holo-camera that Obi-Wan had given him for his last birthday.
When he returned to the doorway, he could hardly believe his eyes.
They were kissing. His master was kissing the Duchess of Mandalore.
Unable to resist, Anakin captured the moment for eternity with a simple press of the shutter.
Obi-Wan might hate him for it if he ever found out, but right now Anakin didn't care.
This moment was too good to be forgotten.
"I still have the picture, you know," Anakin rasped, staring at his shaking fingers, "He still doesn't know that it even exists."
The scene was burned into his brain to this day. Obi-Wan sitting on the sofa, head bandaged and hair a little disheveled. Next to him Satine, looking at him with shining eyes. And then, of course, there had been the kiss.
Next to him, Ahsoka shifted on his shoulder. "I wish I could have met him...he sounds like a wonderful person."
"Oh, he is." Anakin again stared at the door in front of them and pulled his padawan into a tight hug.
