[Anakin straightens the way he would when called to attention back home, or the way he'd prepare to face the council. But the beat of hesitation that precedes his reply speaks volumes in and of itself. Anakin knows it was wrong. He knew it then, he knows it now. That strange hollow place remains inside of him.]
[ Anakin is right, but the circumstances... that is what made it wrong. Obi-Wan doesn't need to have all the context to understand, because the gravity of it is in the pause before Anakin speaks. But that isn't the point; Palpatine had been manipulating all of them for years into doing as they were told. Anakin had simply been the most vulnerable of them.
But that's what I'm saying- [Agony doesn't ripple through him, they're long, deep frissons through rock that come crumbling down.] The Chancellor has wanted us to stop the Separatists from the beginning. He's always wanted to stop Dooku, and he's always been a friend to me. To both of us!
[As soon as the last words leave his mouth the uncertainty is there. The doubt that he's told the truth. Anakin visibly hesitates, and then, unable to make the lie feel true, he shakes his head. His voice is quiet, the sharing of a secret.]
Obi-Wan, are you sure you aren't mistaken? Did you see this Darth Sidious with your own eyes?
[ Did you see this Darth Sidious with your own eyes? He thinks of the Chancellor standing over Anakin, the familiar, grandfatherly sound of his voice turned from saccharine to poison, a sort of gravel he'll never be able to forget. The way Anakin bowed his head under the birth of Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan blinks back to the worried, creased expression on Anakin's face, and can't quite get the agony out of his own voice: ]
[ He can't get closer to Anakin from here, but he feels himself try. He reaches out with both hands to take up the communicator; reaches out over the tenuous stretch of their bond to splay both hands against the strength of his trembling shields, feeling the force of the hurricane behind them. ]
[ Hadn't he encouraged Anakin, now and then, to seek Palpatine's council when he himself couldn't offer an answer? Despite his distrust of him as a politician. Despite his instincts. He had encouraged Anakin right into that predator's arms. It's enough to make him want to be sick.
Anakin's despair pours over him like melting steel. He tries to catch it as he falls, regardless of the burn. ]
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He was too dangerous to be left alive.
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Quietly: ]
And he could have revealed who Darth Sidious was.
A tyrant... has no allies.
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[As soon as the last words leave his mouth the uncertainty is there. The doubt that he's told the truth. Anakin visibly hesitates, and then, unable to make the lie feel true, he shakes his head. His voice is quiet, the sharing of a secret.]
Obi-Wan, are you sure you aren't mistaken? Did you see this Darth Sidious with your own eyes?
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Obi-Wan blinks back to the worried, creased expression on Anakin's face, and can't quite get the agony out of his own voice: ]
I saw him.
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Obi-Wan's agony is his own]
How?
[It isn't possible. How could a universe exist where this is possible? He sinks to his knees, can't bring himself to lift his head and look back.]
What have I done?
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You didn't know, Anakin.
None of us knew.
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He's my friend- [The words are a moan. Pain, despair.]
All of these years- everything-
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[ Hadn't he encouraged Anakin, now and then, to seek Palpatine's council when he himself couldn't offer an answer? Despite his distrust of him as a politician. Despite his instincts. He had encouraged Anakin right into that predator's arms. It's enough to make him want to be sick.
Anakin's despair pours over him like melting steel. He tries to catch it as he falls, regardless of the burn. ]
I am so sorry.