White Rabbits (Star Wars, 7/?)
London and its people, as always, have my deep respect and love. I've been very glad to see posts from various people mentioning that they are all right.
Title: White Rabbits
Chapter: 7/?
Author: Diana Michelle (butterfly)
Warnings: Spoilers for Revenge of the Sith.
Pairing: Eventual Anakin/Obi-Wan.
Rating: PG/PG-13-ish.
Summary: Obi-Wan doesn't quite have the words to explain just what Anakin is to him.
Disclaimer: Not Lucas, don't own a thing, not making any money.
Chapter Index
Chapter Seven -- Definitions
“He’s always in such a hurry,” Obi-Wan muttered, as Anakin stalked past the group on the ramp on his way into the ship. Obi-Wan walked up the ramp more slowly, still feeling a bit like he’d been blasted by a destroyer droid. Anakin, of course, seemed perfectly fine. That was just like him, to be unaffected by things that left other men, other Jedi, lying about in agony. And then, whenever something did affect Anakin, he seemed to feel the pain more keenly than any other creature in the galaxy.
“He’s going right for the engines! How can he even know where they are?” Han asked, not waiting for an answer before hurrying off after Anakin. Pity, Obi-Wan could have reassured him that Anakin always knew what he was doing, at least when it came to machines.
“And that is Anakin Skywalker,” Obi-Wan said, firmly. “Arrogant, emotional, and more than a little impulsive, but certainly no Sith.”
“No what?” Luke said, and both Luke and Leia stopped staring into the ship in favor of looking at Obi-Wan with nearly identical expressions of confusion.
“Sith,” Obi-Wan repeated. “Someone who freely uses the dark side of the Force.”
“It’s not a word that registers in the vocabularies of any of the languages that I know. And I am fluent in over six million forms of communication,” Threepio said, disapprovingly, reminding Obi-Wan that it was there. Obi-Wan sharply signaled for Threepio to get into the ship, sure that he didn’t want the talkative droid to hear the rest of this conversation. Threepio glanced over at Luke before obeying.
“That’s simply impossible,” Obi-Wan said, waiting until Threepio was fully out of range before continuing. “A thousand years of learning can’t just… vanish over the course of a single generation.”
“Obi-Wan, it’s fairly obvious that you aren’t prepared to hear any of this,” Leia said, sneaking a glance into the ship. “And I wish that we had better news…”
“But the truth is that the Emperor was extremely powerful,” Luke said. “And he despised the Jedi, though I’m guessing it’s not really because they tried to assassinate him.”
“I do doubt that,” Obi-Wan said. Though he knew that Master Windu and some of the others were concerned with the length of Palpatine’s stay as Chancellor, he couldn’t imagine any Jedi stooping to the level of assassination. It was much easier to believe that a politician had lied. That happened every day. “What am I going to find at this Temple of yours, young Luke?”
“Not much,” Luke said, shrugging. “When I first came to Coruscant, I went to there to try to connect with the Jedi who came before me, but I only found reasons not to stay.”
“Such as?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I couldn’t begin to explain,” Luke said. “You’ll understand when we see it.”
“Well, you are a Jedi,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “That was very cryptic of you. Worthy of a Master, I daresay.”
Leia tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a snort of laughter, her nose wrinkling up in a charming manner. After a moment, Luke smiled, too, and if he looked for it, Obi-Wan could see a shadow of Anakin there.
But that was just the power of suggestion - if he looked carefully enough, he could also see Anakin in Leia’s face, too. It didn’t mean anything, if Luke looked a little like Anakin when he smiled.
“You’re a Master, then?” Leia asked. Her mouth twisted and then she continued, sounding a touch distasteful, “And… Anakin Skywalker… is your student.”
“Actually, no, not anymore,” Obi-Wan said. “He’s…”
“What?” Luke asked, leaning forward.
“You know, I’m not entirely sure,” Obi-Wan said. It was a question that he hadn’t thought about before. True, he’d known that it was unspeakably rare for Master and Padawan to stay together after the latter had been Knighted, but there had never been a question of doing anything else. None of the other Masters had ever suggested splitting them up, and Anakin himself, though he spoke longingly of the rank of Master, never seemed to show any desire to take a Padawan learner.
The word ‘friend’ came to mind and yet, even that word, dangerous and deep as it felt at the moment, seemed inadequate. Obi-Wan had never known his blood family, only the Order, but he’d seen the loyalty that others felt to their kin, something like the bond between Master and Padawan, yet with an… equality that would not belong in the Order.
The Force was his life, the Order was his family.
As a child, Obi-Wan had never felt the stab of longing that Anakin had once haltingly told him was ‘homesickness’. He’d never wanted to belong anywhere but the Order, never wanted to be anything except a Jedi.
And then, Anakin had come into his life. At first, the child had been still and quiet, never putting a foot out of place. Then, one day, Anakin had broken something. Some small, meaningless thing, but he’d cried over it. Later that day, he’d fixed it, shyly offering it to Obi-Wan to inspect for flaws.
Obi-Wan couldn’t remember what the thing had been, but he could remember Anakin’s smile, the first one that he’d given to Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan alone.
Obi-Wan could remember the pure stab of joy that he’d felt and how he’d pushed it away. Over the years, he’d collected many of those moments, putting them into a secret place in his heart where even he rarely dared to look. He’d not felt like a friend in those moments, nor as the mentor that he should be, but as a… the best word that he could think of was ‘brother’, kin.
But even that didn’t feel strong enough.
Anakin was Anakin, a whirlwind of pure emotion and light.
Obi-Wan glanced toward the ship, the one that they’d called the Falcon, wishing that he could feel Anakin inside. “Anakin is… a good friend.”
“That’s what you told me,” Luke said. “When I asked you about my father, that’s what you told me.”
“And you honestly believed that I could ever entertain the thought that he…” Obi-Wan trailed off.
“It’s a little easier to understand why you won’t,” Leia said and it felt oddly like she was trying to… barter for peace. “He’s not what I would have expected.”
“No,” Obi-Wan said. “He never is.”
~end chapter seven~
Title: White Rabbits
Chapter: 7/?
Author: Diana Michelle (butterfly)
Warnings: Spoilers for Revenge of the Sith.
Pairing: Eventual Anakin/Obi-Wan.
Rating: PG/PG-13-ish.
Summary: Obi-Wan doesn't quite have the words to explain just what Anakin is to him.
Disclaimer: Not Lucas, don't own a thing, not making any money.
Chapter Index
Chapter Seven -- Definitions
“He’s always in such a hurry,” Obi-Wan muttered, as Anakin stalked past the group on the ramp on his way into the ship. Obi-Wan walked up the ramp more slowly, still feeling a bit like he’d been blasted by a destroyer droid. Anakin, of course, seemed perfectly fine. That was just like him, to be unaffected by things that left other men, other Jedi, lying about in agony. And then, whenever something did affect Anakin, he seemed to feel the pain more keenly than any other creature in the galaxy.
“He’s going right for the engines! How can he even know where they are?” Han asked, not waiting for an answer before hurrying off after Anakin. Pity, Obi-Wan could have reassured him that Anakin always knew what he was doing, at least when it came to machines.
“And that is Anakin Skywalker,” Obi-Wan said, firmly. “Arrogant, emotional, and more than a little impulsive, but certainly no Sith.”
“No what?” Luke said, and both Luke and Leia stopped staring into the ship in favor of looking at Obi-Wan with nearly identical expressions of confusion.
“Sith,” Obi-Wan repeated. “Someone who freely uses the dark side of the Force.”
“It’s not a word that registers in the vocabularies of any of the languages that I know. And I am fluent in over six million forms of communication,” Threepio said, disapprovingly, reminding Obi-Wan that it was there. Obi-Wan sharply signaled for Threepio to get into the ship, sure that he didn’t want the talkative droid to hear the rest of this conversation. Threepio glanced over at Luke before obeying.
“That’s simply impossible,” Obi-Wan said, waiting until Threepio was fully out of range before continuing. “A thousand years of learning can’t just… vanish over the course of a single generation.”
“Obi-Wan, it’s fairly obvious that you aren’t prepared to hear any of this,” Leia said, sneaking a glance into the ship. “And I wish that we had better news…”
“But the truth is that the Emperor was extremely powerful,” Luke said. “And he despised the Jedi, though I’m guessing it’s not really because they tried to assassinate him.”
“I do doubt that,” Obi-Wan said. Though he knew that Master Windu and some of the others were concerned with the length of Palpatine’s stay as Chancellor, he couldn’t imagine any Jedi stooping to the level of assassination. It was much easier to believe that a politician had lied. That happened every day. “What am I going to find at this Temple of yours, young Luke?”
“Not much,” Luke said, shrugging. “When I first came to Coruscant, I went to there to try to connect with the Jedi who came before me, but I only found reasons not to stay.”
“Such as?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I couldn’t begin to explain,” Luke said. “You’ll understand when we see it.”
“Well, you are a Jedi,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “That was very cryptic of you. Worthy of a Master, I daresay.”
Leia tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a snort of laughter, her nose wrinkling up in a charming manner. After a moment, Luke smiled, too, and if he looked for it, Obi-Wan could see a shadow of Anakin there.
But that was just the power of suggestion - if he looked carefully enough, he could also see Anakin in Leia’s face, too. It didn’t mean anything, if Luke looked a little like Anakin when he smiled.
“You’re a Master, then?” Leia asked. Her mouth twisted and then she continued, sounding a touch distasteful, “And… Anakin Skywalker… is your student.”
“Actually, no, not anymore,” Obi-Wan said. “He’s…”
“What?” Luke asked, leaning forward.
“You know, I’m not entirely sure,” Obi-Wan said. It was a question that he hadn’t thought about before. True, he’d known that it was unspeakably rare for Master and Padawan to stay together after the latter had been Knighted, but there had never been a question of doing anything else. None of the other Masters had ever suggested splitting them up, and Anakin himself, though he spoke longingly of the rank of Master, never seemed to show any desire to take a Padawan learner.
The word ‘friend’ came to mind and yet, even that word, dangerous and deep as it felt at the moment, seemed inadequate. Obi-Wan had never known his blood family, only the Order, but he’d seen the loyalty that others felt to their kin, something like the bond between Master and Padawan, yet with an… equality that would not belong in the Order.
The Force was his life, the Order was his family.
As a child, Obi-Wan had never felt the stab of longing that Anakin had once haltingly told him was ‘homesickness’. He’d never wanted to belong anywhere but the Order, never wanted to be anything except a Jedi.
And then, Anakin had come into his life. At first, the child had been still and quiet, never putting a foot out of place. Then, one day, Anakin had broken something. Some small, meaningless thing, but he’d cried over it. Later that day, he’d fixed it, shyly offering it to Obi-Wan to inspect for flaws.
Obi-Wan couldn’t remember what the thing had been, but he could remember Anakin’s smile, the first one that he’d given to Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan alone.
Obi-Wan could remember the pure stab of joy that he’d felt and how he’d pushed it away. Over the years, he’d collected many of those moments, putting them into a secret place in his heart where even he rarely dared to look. He’d not felt like a friend in those moments, nor as the mentor that he should be, but as a… the best word that he could think of was ‘brother’, kin.
But even that didn’t feel strong enough.
Anakin was Anakin, a whirlwind of pure emotion and light.
Obi-Wan glanced toward the ship, the one that they’d called the Falcon, wishing that he could feel Anakin inside. “Anakin is… a good friend.”
“That’s what you told me,” Luke said. “When I asked you about my father, that’s what you told me.”
“And you honestly believed that I could ever entertain the thought that he…” Obi-Wan trailed off.
“It’s a little easier to understand why you won’t,” Leia said and it felt oddly like she was trying to… barter for peace. “He’s not what I would have expected.”
“No,” Obi-Wan said. “He never is.”
~end chapter seven~