Author:
patientalienTitle: Stop and Think
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: endanger
Word Count: 292
Characters: Anakin, Obi-Wan
Rating: PG
Summary: Just Anakin and Obi-Wan, on the battlefield.
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Obi-Wan grabbed him by the shoulders. "Stop!" he demanded. "Think!" As if this were a mere training exercise and Anakin could afford to stop and think. Stopping and thinking might mean the mission failed. Stopping and thinking meant he would never get going again, because whenever he stopped moving, whenever he started thinking, tried to unravel the tangled up mess in his mind, he became frozen. So, no, he wasn't going to stop and think.
"We can take them now, Master!" A deep breath. "A full assault on the canyon and we'll have the advantage!" He was fully aware of how unhinged he must sound, the desperate lilt to his voice. They had to take the canyon, or they may as well just pack up and go home, may as well just give up entirely. Anakin was not a man who gave up easily, and he knew what needed to be done. He wasn't sure why Obi-Wan was fighting him on it.
"With what troops, Anakin?" Obi-Wan countered, and Anakin stopped short. In his frenzy, he'd forgotten. He and Obi-Wan were alone, here.
"I don't need any troops," he said firmly. Himself, and his lightsaber, and the Force was equal to a full battalion of Clones, after all.
Obi-Wan's expression softened. "There is another way," he said, voice gentle now. "I don't want you to endanger yourself needlessly."
Anakin's shoulders slumped; the fight left him. He didn't care about endangering himself, but he didn't want to fight with Obi-Wan about it. They'd gone down that path before, and it never ended in his favor, anyway. "Fine," he said. "Let's stop and think."
While it was never his first choice, when it was with Obi-Wan, he felt like maybe he could handle it.