Hey Everyone! This chapter is kinda short, but I did have a lot of fun writing it. It's a bit of a transition chapter into the next part of the story. As always - Enjoy! Lots of Love - Lorna :)
DS2010: The clones gotta take care of their disaster Jedi generals. Hope you enjoy the coming chapters and thank you for all your comments!
Guest: I feel for Kix and the clones too. It has to be hard to be in the middle of the Empire and still being loyal to the republic and the jedi in their hearts. The 501st and the 212th are in an especially difficult spot. Hope you enjoy the coming Chapters and thank you for all you comments! I look forward to reading them every time I post!
Obi-Wan didn't see Vader again for over a week.
He was fairly sure Anakin was still on the ship—he could feel the remnants of his presence, like the fading heat of a fire long after the embers had burned low—but he remained unseen. Cody had refused to let Obi-Wan leave the room in that time, which was understandable, if not exceedingly frustrating.
The forced confinement left him with little to do but reacquaint himself with the Force. He meditated. And meditated. And meditated.
Force forbid Anakin ever hear this, but he was sick of meditating.
Despite the reputation Anakin had liked to exasperate, Obi-Wan did not love to meditate. He actually enjoyed being busy—moving, planning, executing. The war had made him accustomed to an endless cycle of motion. Even surviving on Tatooine had been something of a battlefield, requiring him to stay sharp, to keep moving forward.
Now, he was stuck. Trapped.
There were no plans to make, no strategies to devise. No missions. No war. Just waiting.
He had briefly considered an escape plan, but dismissed it just as quickly. He wouldn't leave. Not without Anakin. Not without the clones. Loyalty didn't just mean something to the clones.
But the waiting, the stillness—it was maddening.
More than that, it was dangerous.
Because as the days passed, the clones became restless. He could feel it. It was a sickness in the air, a building pressure that set his teeth on edge. Anxiety bled through the walls, leaving his skin prickling, his stomach twisting into knots.
Cody, always perceptive, had started standing guard outside the door more often, where Obi-Wan couldn't easily reach him in the Force. Waxer, Boil, and Fives, who had also started taking shifts, followed his example. Even still, their unease was suffocating.
And worse… he couldn't filter it out.
It was absurd. He had survived a war. He had fought in battles that had turned entire landscapes to rubble. He was a Jedi Master, trained to maintain control, to let emotions wash over him without ever letting them settle.
And yet now, now, he was suffocating on their panic and his own, drowning in it.
Cody, of course, had noticed. He didn't say anything—he never did—but Obi-Wan could feel his presence shift, adjusting. Making himself less easy to read.
He should have been grateful.
But h e only felt more trapped.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next time Obi-Wan saw Vader was when the Sith Lord came into his room late at night.
The door hissed open, and Anakin entered in a mad storm.
His cloak was askew, heavy boots tracking filth onto the pristine floor. The air around him was thick—charged with barely contained rage and instability. His eyes glowed molten gold, burning like candles in a rotting exterior.
He was muttering—low, half-incoherent words spilling from his lips. It was something deranged sounding about rebels and traitors to the empire.
Obi-Wan stiffened, his stomach twisting sharply. He didn't need to ask. He knew.
This was Palpatine's doing.He must have summoned Anakin for another "meeting". And this was the result.
This was always the result.
Anakin's breath was sharp and shallow, his hands twitching as if resisting the urge to lash out, to break something—someone. Obi-Wan barely had time to move before Anakin's gaze locked onto him. For the briefest moment, the golden glow flickered to something slightly more human. Then, without a word, Anakin turned on his heel and left. The door hissed shut behind him, leaving a hollow silence in his wake.
Obi-Wan exhaled, barely realizing he had been holding his breath.
At the door, Cody stood frozen. His posture was stiff, controlled—but his hand was on his blaster.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Obi-Wan stopped meditating completely.
He stopped reaching for the Force at all.
Because every time he did, he was met with darkness.
The weight of this place, of captivity, of the ever-looming presence of the Dark Side pressed in from all sides. It was suffocating. And no matter how hard he tried, no matter what small lights he managed to find—
It was like watching a star be devoured by a black hole.And he couldn't bear to watch one more light go out.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Waxer and Boil had to hand over their rotations to some shinies that weren't apart of the 501st or 212th. Cody assured him that they were fine.
Obi Wan knew he was lying.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Cody could hear the tapping. It hurt to know that Obi Wan had started tapping again.
It was faint, barely there, a small, steady click—click—click against the wall.
It was just an anxious tic. A restless habit born of being trapped for too long. That what Cody pretended.
Itwas a small, constant noise that Cody strained to hear through the durasteel door.
It went on for hours, a quiet, mindless rhythm.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
It stopped.
Cody thought it would be a relief.
It wasn't.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
He got new orders from Vader the next day.
He read them once. Then again.
Kriff.
Kriff.