Into the Light
Summary: The talk between Anakin and Obi-Wan after the Council's decision not to make Anakin a master goes a little differently. Anakin is more open to talking to Obi-Wan about his worries, and Obi-Wan's reaction is unexpected. Things change from there. For both of them. And probably for the Galaxy, too.
Usual disclaimers apply. Sorry for the mistakes.
Chapter 2
Anakin Skywalker had a tumultuous night after the dinner with Obi-Wan and Master Ti. Though he felt some relief after the meal, he was plagued by a terrible nightmare of losing Padmé. The nightmare might have been triggered by the topic of conversation that Chancellor Palpatine brought up: the tragedy of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord with a strange ability that could save a life. The subject was unexpected, and the ensuing conversation was deeply disturbing, leaving Anakin deeply troubled. What was the man trying to say? He couldn't know about his dreams… And if he was trying to convince him that the Jedi was in the wrong…
And that was yet another troubling development… Anakin was disoriented and confused because he found himself stuck in the middle of a conflict between the Jedi Council and the Chancellor. The feud was becoming more intense with each passing day, and Anakin was finding it challenging to navigate. He agreed with the Chancellor on many issues, but he was also a staunch believer in the values of the Jedi Order. He found it hard to reconcile his loyalty to the Jedi Council with his admiration for the Chancellor.
The situation was causing him a lot of stress and anxiety, and he was too exhausted to sort out the tangled threads of the conflict. He had more significant problems to worry about, such as the safety of Padmé and their unborn child. Anakin knew that he needed to focus on protecting them, but the turmoil within the Jedi Order and the Republic made it increasingly difficult for him to do so.
It was a good thing he had opened up to Obi-Wan. Padmé was right, after all. His old master was not only understanding but willing to help. The Chancellor was wrong. Not all of the Jedi were narrow-sighted and judgmental. How wrong he was to believe that Obi-Wan would turn on him!
His troubled thoughts focused as he spotted Obi-Wan approaching with a definite bounce in his steps. He had been waiting for him for some time. As a matter of fact, the always-collected Jedi master was late for the Council meeting. A teasing grin appeared on Anakin's face, all his worries forgotten for the time being.
"So," he started without any preamble when Obi-Wan reached him, "did you two give some thought to what I said yesterday?"
"Oh, we did more than that," Obi-Wan said flippantly. Then, when he realized what he had just revealed, he blushed profoundly. Anakin burst out laughing, which didn't help his old mentor's case at all.
"Good for you, Master, good for you. Come on, they are already waiting."
"Are they?" Obi-Wan asked, panicked, probably realizing for the first time that he had been running late.
"Of course," Anakin shrugged. "You are late. Master Ti arrived on time, by the way. But don't worry, you can blame it on me." With that, he turned to enter the chambers.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan stopped him, though, with a hand on his arms. Anakin turned back to him. "Thank you." Anakin opened his mouth to tell him that nobody would believe him to be late anyway, but Obi-Wan pushed on. "I sorely needed that push… from you. I think I just wanted to show a good example. And we know how well that went. Anyway, you were right. And it seems Shaak has been thinking the same thing from the start."
"She is a wise woman."
"She is wonderful, right?" he agreed with a decidedly smitten expression.
"Oh, Obi-Wan." Anakin laughed, bemused, and then turned and entered the chambers. "I'm sorry, masters," he started without missing a beat, his voice still carrying some of the mirth from his previous conversion and none of the remorse he wished to express, "I lost track of time."
"Take your seat, Skywalker," Master Windu told him sternly. "And try to show more respect for the Council in the future."
"Of course, Master," Anakin bowed, hiding a smile. Obi-Wan looked chastised enough for the both of them.
After that, the conversation quickly turned serious, and Anakin revealed what Chancellor Palpatine had shared with him the previous night concerning Grievous.
"Palpatine thinks General Grievous is on Utapau?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.
"A partial message was intercepted in a diplomatic packet from the chairman of Utapau," Anakin repeated what he had been told.
"Hm... Act on this, we must," Master Yoda concluded, his hologram flickering. "The capture of General Grievous will end this war. Quickly and decisively, we should proceed."
"The Chancellor has requested... that I lead the campaign."
"The Council will make up its own mind who is to go, not the Chancellor," Windu dismissed him without a second thought, his voice stern.
"A master is needed, with more experience," Yoda added, at which hurt indignation stirred in Anakin. He was, after all, just as experienced a general as any of the masters in the room. Obi-Wan must have felt his resentment as his calming presence touched his troubled mind through their bond, which seemed to be coming to life after months of being mostly dormant. Anakin welcomed the feeling.
"I concur," Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed. "Master Kenobi should go."
"I agree," Yoda nodded.
"Aye," Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed.
"Aye." So did Master Windu, and when no complaint came from the other masters, he continued, "Very well, the council is adjourned."
"Something is weighing on your mind, Master Ti," Obi-Wan prodded as the three of them slowly walked away from the Council Chambers, each of them deep in their own thoughts.
"I am worried." Shaak let out a troubled sigh. "Does nobody feel the Darkness here? I understand the need to engage the enemy in the hope of imminent victory and to end this war, but what about Coruscant? Especially after the attack. We go on like this, and no Jedi will remain on Coruscant."
"Nobody would dare to attack again," Anakin declared confidently.
"Why are we so sure about that?" Shaak turned to him with an edge to her usually calm voice. "We thought so before they had attacked. There are hardly enough of us here to protect the Temple, not to mention the Senate, the people of Coruscant."
"There are a lot of clones to do so," Anakin supplied.
"That hardly reassures me," Shaak muttered darkly.
"Shaak," Obi-Wan stopped her with a hand on her arm and gave her a worried look. "What is it?"
"I don't trust them," she said with a grave expression as she turned to look at the men, who looked at her taken aback by her admission. It was understandable. They trusted them with their lives out there on the frontlines. And yet... "I worked with more of them than you can imagine. I forged connections with them. They are good people. And yet... they are manufactured like the droids of the Separatists. And we still don't fully understand the circumstances of their creation. We simply accept the fact that a renegade Jedi Master ordered their production and chose to sit on our hands because we are too afraid of public opinion, and, I might add, we had an exquisite role in ruining it regardless. I can't help feeling that we are willingly digging our own graves. What happened a couple of months back with your troopers, Anakin, it was a mess with a convenient solution. I was wholly closed out of the investigation; it was all between the Chancellor and the Kaminoans, and they are hardly forthcoming. And the Council was all right with that. It still is. I'm still trying to find the whole truth of it, but I keep hitting walls on both fronts. We became complacent, and I fear that it will cost us greatly. And it's not just the clones... I can't help but feel that something is out of place here." At her last sentence, Obi-Wan and Anakin shared a concerned look.
"However it may be, for the moment, we have little other option than to do as we are told," Obi-Wan observed. "But we have to remain vigilant."
Anakin recalled his conversation with the Chancellor the previous night and the uneasy feeling that settled on him after. He shook his head, trying to clear it. It was so hard to think clearly nowadays. He was pulled out of his dark thoughts by Obi-Wan.
"I'm afraid I have to leave you. I have some preparation to make."
"Please, do find us when you are done," Shaak asked him.
"I will," he promised with a smile then left.
"Very well," Shaak turned to Anakin, still feeling troubled in the Force but willing to let it rest for the time being, wholly concentrated on Anakin. "What is it that you do instead of meditation?" she inquired with genuine interest in her voice.
"I don't know what Obi-Wan is telling you, but I do meditate." Shaak Ti tilted her head. Anakin squirmed. "On occasions. Sometimes... All right," he sighed. "I mostly tinker. It helps me concentrate. It calms me."
"In that case," Shaak smiled, "I would very much like to tinker."
Anakin was taken aback but bowed politely. "As you wish, Master Ti."
"Are these your quarters?" Shaak asked as the door to Anakin's quarters whooshed open, and she was met with a room that resembled more of a storage room than living quarters.
"Oh." Anakin stopped, taking in the state of his quarters. "Yes? Sorry for the mess. As you can guess, I don't really spend much time here. If I do, I work with whatever gets into my hands or just sleep on any flat surface I can find."
"And Obi-Wan hasn't thrown a fit about this?" she made a vague gesture, indicating the chaos in the room.
"You know he did," Anakin shrugged. "Come on. I was working on a med droid Quinlan had smashed last time he was in the infirmary."
"He is not a good patient indeed," Shaak smiled, coming to a stop by said droid. It was an IM-series droid they used on Kamino as well. "So, what do we do?"
"Well, it needs a complete rewire. I did most of it already, but there is still a lot to do." He looked around. "The chassis is ready. I still have to rewire the data board, but the processor board can go in. It's not too complicated, but there are many wires, and the slots are tiny."
"Show me what to do."
He did so, and Shaak wondered what a patient teacher Anakin was. And an excellent one, too. He showed her everything and answered all her questions, no matter how basic they were. He kept his explanations simple. When he was carried away, he gave her a sheepish smile then started over, mindful of his less technically apt audience. It was a pleasant experience, which Shaak thoroughly enjoyed.
When she was confident enough that she could do the job, they started working in companionable silence. She watched with interest as Anakin worked on a piece of data board and noted how patient he was with every little detail and adjustment he had to make, so unlike his reputation on the battlefield. He was focused, and she could feel the calm surrounding him. It was indeed as if he had been meditating. She smiled and turned back to the task at hand. It was a pretty straightforward, if somewhat tedious, work, but at last, she finished. She did the same with the data board since her smaller hands worked easier in the confined space, then they reassembled the droid together.
"Would you like to do the honor, Master Ti?" Anakin asked, indicating the droid. Shaak bowed her head and reached for the switch to turn it on.
The droit whirred to life, its photoreceptors lighting up with a soft blue glow. A smile broke on Shaak's face at the sense of accomplishment as the med droid slowly came online.
Her satisfaction at a job well done turned out to be short-lived, though. The droid clearly did not operate within the normal parameters for a med droid. Its coordination was slightly off, but the bigger issue was definitely with its programming, she supposed.
It was sprouting witty one-liners and singing amusing little ditties as if it had been its primary function. While this was highly amusing and brought a smile to her lips (Anakin was openly laughing), it was also rather concerning.
"Is there a problem with the programming, Anakin?" she turned to Anakin, just narrowly missing the widely gesticulating droid's arm. "Or is it a hardware problem?" She took a step back.
"Oh, don't worry. You did an excellent job at assembling it. I suspect it is the programming. I'll run a diagnostic, and we'll see." He quickly hooked it up to a diagnostic tablet and ran a program. The droid stood unblinking for a while, seemingly waiting for further instructions, but after a couple of silent minutes, it seemed to have gotten bored.
"Diagnostics, diagnostics, oh so fun, let's diagnose everyone," he started to sing. Anakin and Shaak shared a bemused look, but their bemusement quickly turned to exasperation. As time passed, the droid kept telling jokes, funny anecdotes, and singing little ditties.
"I swear this thing talks more than 3PO," Anakin groaned, clutching his sides, which hurt from laughter. "I think I know why Quinlan smashed it in the first place."
"We have to do something. It's not suitable for a medical droid."
Just then, the tablet beeped, signaling that diagnostics were complete.
"Well, let's see what can be done," Anakin suggested and started to study the tablet. "All right... It is a hardware problem, after all. There seems to be a faulty memory module in its central processor. There was no way to know it until it was turned on. It's causing a cascade of errors in its programming."
"At least we know what the problem is. Can we fix it?"
"Yes, we can replace the faulty module with a new one. It's an easy fix, but it will take some time."
"Well, then, let us get to it."
At that, the droid threw its hands in the air in an eerie, familiar gesture of 3PO when the protocol droid was in distress. "Oh, the woes of a faulty memory module. It's like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces, but the pieces keep telling knock-knock jokes."
"All right, buddy," Anakin groaned. "Go to sleep. You'll be as good as new when you wake up."
"That was... entertaining," Shaak Ti observed when silence settled on the room. They shared a look then promptly burst out laughing.
They were still laughing at the mishap when the door opened, and Obi-Wan stepped in with a tray of food in his hands. It was then that she realized that they'd been so engrossed in their work that they missed lunch.
"I see I've just missed the fun part," Obi-Wan observed, sending her an affectionate look.
"You are just in time to help us fix the disaster we have caused," Shaak Ti smiled.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked as he put down the tray on the cluttered table. Anakin turned on the droid, which promptly started sprouting funny ditties. He turned it off. "Oh, I see."
"Don't worry," Anakin quipped. "We can fix it. After lunch," he eyed the food with hungry eyes.
"Well said," Shaak Ti agreed, getting up from the floor.
She watched as Obi-Wan made his way to her with uncharacteristically uncertain steps and gave her an awkward kiss, which ended up on her forehead, his hands undecided whether to touch hers or not. He was adorable.
"I hope you did better than that last night, master," Anakin joked, already sitting by the table.
"Very funny, Anakin," Obi-Wan deadpanned, and Shaak had to admit she would have blushed at the implications if her skin tone had allowed for it. "It's been thirteen years since I allowed myself to express my affection towards her... and even then, only in private."
"Thirteen years? I thought you've never..."
"Yes, we did," Obi-Wan shared a smile with Shaak. "But that is a story for another day."
Dinner, once again, was a pleasant affair. Anakin was truly entertaining company, and Shaak thought Obi-Wan's obvious adoration of the boy was sweet. She knew that the man loved his former padawan; it had always been clear through all the struggle, which was the result of so much pressure and responsibility being placed upon a young man who so obviously needed guidance himself. However, she rarely had the opportunity to spend time with both of them.
After relating the incident with the med-droid and finishing their meal, they set to repairing the faulty machine. Changing the memory module was a slow and tedious task, but Shaak supposed that this time spent together was precisely what Anakin and Obi-Wan needed. So, after a while, she drew back and let the two men work. She was content just to sit back and watch them.
Snacking on the remnants of their dinner, she wondered when the last time was that the two of them spent time with each other without the pressure of the war on their shoulders and all the expectations… without being master and padawan. They worked efficiently together, and their bantering put a smile on her face.
Obi-Wan was positively glowing in the company of the boy he so feared he was losing to an invisible force. And Anakin… he was calm and content for the moment. It seemed the boy thrived in the affection of the people he cared about. She could feel something swirling in the Force around him, which left her unsettled, but she could not tell what it was without more focused scrutiny. So, she contended herself with the present, which filled her with warmth and contentment.
She knew that she had her work cut out for her with Anakin, but that was for another day.
"So, did you find out everything you wanted?" Obi-Wan asked Shaak as they made their way down the corridor after leaving Anakin's quarters.
"That and even more." She smiled, satisfied. "And I have to admit I am duly impressed. He is a remarkable young man. He is focused, patient, and determined."
"Are we talking about the same person?"
"Obi-Wan," she sounded somewhat chiding. "You are the one who knows best his capabilities."
"Yes, and believe me, focused and patient are not among them. Determined, yes, he is pigheaded that way. But..."
"But I think," she cut in, "that you are quite inclined to impatience yourself when it comes to Anakin."
"Impatience," Obi-Wan scoffed indignantly.
"And frustration."
He scoffed again.
"I am glad that you came to me. You need to define your relationship outside that of master and padawan. I can teach him."
"You certainly have the patience for that," Obi-Wan smiled. "Thank you, my dear. I think that he needs this. He needs a steady, guiding presence. And I'm afraid I cannot be that for him at this point in time."
"You just need to be his friend."
"Yes," Obi-Wan acknowledged the truth in her words. "So, may I interest you with dinner?"
"Always."
TBC
