Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing alright! Thank you all for your comments! They make my day and I look forward to reading them.
Guest: You're absolutely right, Anakin is coming back little by little. Obi Wan is going to save the day or die trying. Vader however is not going down without a fight, and Anakin is still pretty weak. Who do you think, is going to win out in the end? And more importantly, what does it cost?
DS2010: Anakin can be aggravating, but he knows Obi Wan still loves him despite it :)
Hope you all enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think! Lots of Love - Lorna : )
Obi Wan was still hungry and Anakin was gone. Déjà vu at its finest. Despite this, he was fairly content. The Force hummed with satisfaction, light slowly filtering its way into the darkness. It felt good, something Obi Wan hadn't felt in such a long time. The door whizzed open, and Obi Wan was hit by a presence that was not Vader's. A clone trooper walked in with a small bowl in his hands. There was nothing different about the trooper, nothing that made this particular clone stand out from the rest. His armor had been changed to the sterile, robotic white that every stormtrooper wore. His helmet was on, and there were no words spoken, yet Obi Wan couldn't help but know this man.
The trooper set the bowl beside the shocked Jedi, and took his post at the doorway, standing as still as a statue.
Recovering, if only slightly, Obi Wan managed to push out a stuttering word, "C-cody?"
There was a pause and then a slight dip of the clone's helmet.
"Why? What are you doing here?"
This question, at least, seemed to ease a little tension. Cody, ever the good soldier, had an answer already prepared. "I was asked to deliver food to the prisoner and keep watch while Lord Vader is away."
Obi-Wan nodded, carefully picking up the bowl. "Thank you."
Cody didn't respond, other than a slight nod of his head.
OoOoOoOoO
"Are you permitted to speak with me?" Obi Wan asked, after an uncomfortable and smothering silence had finally overtaken the room. He had been silently doing things around the room to busy himself, but now that he was no longer hungry, he was not content to just sit around. He had read for a bit, but Anakin lacked any reading material that wasn't strictly necessary and Obi Wan felt uncomfortable meditating while Cody was watching. Last time he had seen his commander, Cody had shot at him, unwillingly, but it still made Obi Wan wary.
"Yes."
"Fantastic." Obi Wan almost smiled, but thought against it. "Is this your new assignment?"
"For the time being."
"What do you usually do?"
"I follow whatever orders I am given to the best of my ability."
Obi Wan shivered a little at the words, but carried on.
"Why are you here now and not when I first arrived?"
"I was stationed outside the room, you just weren't aware."
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Alright, why the change?"
"I was asked by Lord Vader this morning to change duties and keep watch while he is gone."
"When will he be back?"
Cody shrugged stiffly.
Obi-Wan nodded. "That sounds about right. You might be here a while."
Cody almost laughed, but stopped himself. Obi Wan decided that he was going to make Cody laugh even if it took a week of wearing him down to do it. At least it would give him something to do.
OoOoOoOoO
Anakin paced around the cruiser, dark cloak flying behind him like that of the Grim Reaper. He hadn't cleaned himself up, so there were still spots of blood that clung to his face and fist, which only added to the intense demeanor. On the inside however, Anakin was starting to come back, clawing his way tooth and mechanical hand to freedom, which made Vader all the more unstable and temperamental. There were increasing moments when Vader felt the forsaken light swell up inside him and he wouldn't be able to stop Anakin from coming to the surface. Before Obi Wan had been imprisoned, it had almost never happened. Light was hard to come by when you purposely blocked it all out, but Obi Wan was like nightlight, breaking through the impenetrable blackness that Vader had created. It was a problem, a problem that would be so easily rectified with a lightsaber, and yet he couldn't bring himself to even consider it.
Vader slammed his fist into the wall, just to feel the pain ricochet up his arm as flesh met immovable metal. The clones nearest him shared a brief look, which only served to fuel Vader's rage all the more. The clones were the only other time that Anakin surfaced. He protected them, kept them close. Even now, the 501st and 212th respected and maybe even offhandedly cared about him, in their own way behind the strict layer of professional orders. Vader allowed the clones to stay near because they were good soldiers, and for this Anakin remained smothered in Vader's walking shell, but now… something needed to be done. If Anakin wouldn't let him kill Obi Wan, he could certainly find other ways to black out the light. Anakin wasn't strong enough to protect every clone on this ship and his former master. Obi Wan even cared for the clones, it might kill two birds with one stone.
Anger flared in his chest at the thought, Anakin's righteous fury, and Vader felt the conflict within himself reach a peak. The light rejected the thought, and the darkness loved it. It would inevitably hurt him more than anyone in the end. Darkness always did. Vader made up his mind. Anakin had already unknowingly helped his plan along, sending Cody was as an act mercy to Obi Wan, but now it was going to be Vader's knife to stab Obi Wan in the back with.
Anakin was pushing his way to the surface again and Vader saw this for what it was… a challenge.