[ He- what? Is he talking about Padmé? In his mind it makes no sense. Obi-Wan assumes they will each be thrown back into their own timelines, the Obi-Wan he had been referencing was this other counterpart. But perhaps that isn't entirely what Anakin means at all. Obi-Wan would have to look after Padmé in his own timeline, too, and if he died here and did not make it back, that too would be breaking his promise. ]
And I meant it!
It is not as though I am planning my own death, Anakin. I am being realistic! That does not mean I do not have every intention of making it out of this alive.
[Anakin seethes, magma churning through rock and eating up every inch- forcing its way through gaps and crevices until it leaks out and begins to burn everything around him. It isn't rage, it's anger. Fear. Betrayal]
No you're just rolling over for it
If you meant it you'd fight you wouldn't just make these excuses
[ he huffs, frustrated, feeling the thick swell of hot magma burning against him. some part of him wants to throw up a solid guard against it, but the rest of him so wants to understand what it is he is missing. ]
Where is this coming from? You and I have always understood this to be a possibility in the war. Why are you speaking as if I have betrayed you?
[ normally he would tell Anakin to be mindful of where his thoughts are headed, but the problem is he already knows. here it is, like a neon sign in front of him. Obi-Wan takes a breath and makes a point of peeling back his guard, an offering of vulnerability, knowing well Anakin could scorch him from the inside out. ]
[He feels something yield, but Anakin knows the world only in extremes- in absence or abundance, in deafening volume. Obi-Wan's question is foreign, so far removed from the boiling of his blood that it might as well be a different language.]
[Isn't that what you're asking right now Obi-Wan? Isn't that what everyone's asked of him? Anakin has seen it looking back at him in every face on the Council- every time he was too emotional, too volatile, cared too much.]
[ In Anakin's nonanswer, he finds his response. He cannot see Obi-Wan's realistic point of view in this moment; he can only see with his heart. Evidently there is much of Anakin he had not known existed — but what he does know is the heart of the Padawan that would sleep in his bedroom on the floor instead of his own room. The one that wanted to save every single person, regardless of the cost or threat to his own life.
It shocks him that the war has blinded him so completely that he missed all of the signs. ]
Anakin, I will not abandon you. Not as long as you or I live and breathe.
[Anakin's entire body goes still. As empty as a planet without atmo, a cruiser without fuel. The words cut through him, cleanly, precisely. They land like a mortal blow without the pain because... it's what he wants to hear- maybe the thing he's always wanted to hear.
But-
Fear remains in his gut, tells him to hesitate. Tells him to keep holding on, to dig in even harder if he must, to choke it if he has to- as long as he holds on the worst won't happen-
What I said does not change that fact. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. I have always been right behind you.
[ though it is the first time they have spoken on it aloud. perhaps Obi-Wan assumed that his former Padawan had just known, and didn't need him to say it. but the fact remains Obi-Wan had been willing not once, but twice, to walk away from the Order to be where Anakin was. ]
[Even as he says it, there are two voices in reply- Anakin's, and another's. No, Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn't always been behind him. He doesn't understand, he doesn't trust him, because Obi-Wan is a good Jedi. And Anakin is-]
You want me to say that it'll be alright if you die, because that's what everyone else will say
[ Anakin is right in this. That is what they say: There is no death, there is the Force. But it is not an easy lesson learned, and even once it is learned, does not change the feeling. He thinks of the wounds of Qui-Gon and Satine in his heart and soul. He thinks about how There is no death, there is the Force wouldn't bring Qui-Gon's towering frame back into his door, carting some new and strange life form behind him. ]
To say something does not always make it true. Sometimes
I think sometimes we say it to convince ourselves it is true.
[It happens gently, tenderly, and perhaps so slowly that Anakin would never have been able to notice. He isn't naive, he's struggled to explain acceptance and attachment to his own padawan. He understands the purpose of this belief, and the comfort it's meant to bring in the wake of loss.
But how many times had the Council or the Senate made a decision he couldn't agree with? How many times did they ask him to turn a blind eye to suffering, to clones left to die, to slavery, to things that could be prevented if they just faught for it-]
[ It's difficult to see the honesty, perhaps because he knows that Anakin defines himself as a Jedi — and one is not meant to pick and choose what it means to be a Jedi. His kneejerk response is to need to convince Anakin of it's importance, that holding on too tight is how one falls — but he remembers what Ahsoka said, and thinks... maybe it is time for change. ]
[What Obi-Wan doesn't say exists in the air either way- because Anakin too had been raised in the Order. He knows what they would say, what their advice would be, because it plays on a loop through his thoughts. He knows better. He knows-]
Do you?
[It isn't an accusation that reaches carefully- tentatively across their bond. It's an apology maybe. Obi-Wan has sacrificed so many things for him, has tried so hard to make Anakin a good Jedi. A worthy Jedi.]
I understand what the Council asks of me.
But I can't
Why do we surrender when someone needs us? Why have we had so many acceptable losses?
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Then maybe you shouldn't have made promises you aren't willing to keep
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But you're already planning not to walk away from this!
I knew I shouldn't have listened
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And I meant it!
It is not as though I am planning my own death, Anakin. I am being realistic! That does not mean I do not have every intention of making it out of this alive.
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No you're just rolling over for it
If you meant it you'd fight you wouldn't just make these excuses
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[ he huffs, frustrated, feeling the thick swell of hot magma burning against him. some part of him wants to throw up a solid guard against it, but the rest of him so wants to understand what it is he is missing. ]
Where is this coming from? You and I have always understood this to be a possibility in the war. Why are you speaking as if I have betrayed you?
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But there's always a double standard!
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She might die
You might die
And I'm supposed to just let you?!
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How long have you felt this way?
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What?
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How long have you been struggling with this alone?
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You want me to not care? Is that it?
Like I should have when Ahsoka left?
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No! I would never ask that of you.
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Then what?
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It shocks him that the war has blinded him so completely that he missed all of the signs. ]
Anakin, I will not abandon you. Not as long as you or I live and breathe.
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But-
Fear remains in his gut, tells him to hesitate. Tells him to keep holding on, to dig in even harder if he must, to choke it if he has to- as long as he holds on the worst won't happen-
He is so afraid to trust it.]
But
You just said
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[ though it is the first time they have spoken on it aloud. perhaps Obi-Wan assumed that his former Padawan had just known, and didn't need him to say it. but the fact remains Obi-Wan had been willing not once, but twice, to walk away from the Order to be where Anakin was. ]
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[Even as he says it, there are two voices in reply- Anakin's, and another's. No, Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn't always been behind him. He doesn't understand, he doesn't trust him, because Obi-Wan is a good Jedi. And Anakin is-]
You want me to say that it'll be alright if you die, because that's what everyone else will say
[Because that's what I'm supposed to say]
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To say something does not always make it true. Sometimes
I think sometimes we say it to convince ourselves it is true.
But that does not change the way it feels.
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But how many times had the Council or the Senate made a decision he couldn't agree with? How many times did they ask him to turn a blind eye to suffering, to clones left to die, to slavery, to things that could be prevented if they just faught for it-]
I don't want to be convinced
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I understand.
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Do you?
[It isn't an accusation that reaches carefully- tentatively across their bond. It's an apology maybe. Obi-Wan has sacrificed so many things for him, has tried so hard to make Anakin a good Jedi. A worthy Jedi.]
I understand what the Council asks of me.
But I can't
Why do we surrender when someone needs us? Why have we had so many acceptable losses?
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