The Warrior's Path

Chapter 2 - Searching

Obi-Wan and Custos get back to the homestead in the late afternoon, several hours after Anakin spoke to Rex. He's heard nothing since, neither from him nor Sabe, and his anxieties have only grown. His bond with Vader remains quiet, distant, and even a short meditation brought him no illumination, letting him sense nothing about his siblings' whereabouts or condition.

"What's wrong?" Obi-Wan asks, worried, as soon as he climbs from the speeder. Custos turns away from the back of the speeder, where he was beginning to unload supplies, at the sound of Obi-Wan's voice.

Anakin lets out a breath. It's show time. "Something went wrong on Vader and Ahsoka's mission," he relates grimly. "I heard him, felt his panic for a moment before our bond went silent. They were captured. I got in contact with Rex, and he told me that he and Fives got away with the intel, but a Dark Side wielder was waiting there who captured them. It was a trap. I'm waiting for Sabe to get in contact with me again with the information about their whereabouts."

A myriad of emotions – mainly desperation – flash across Custos' face. "We have to go after them," he declares firmly.

"We do and we will," Obi-Wan replies.

"Where were they?" Custos questions.

Anakin shakes his head. "I don't know. She didn't tell me, and she hasn't commed me back yet." It's been hours, he doesn't add. He doesn't want to make them panic more than they already are. Custos, especially, is frantic, even though he's doing a good job at hiding it. He could lose his son if he doesn't act fast, but somehow, Anakin suspects that Vader's fate will be far worse. Sidious would never kill a Skywalker in his hands, especially not one who is already a Dark Sider. No. He'll do so much worse. They have to find them, and they have to do it fast.

"I'll go contact her," Custos decides.

Anakin lets him go, knowing that he'll want his privacy. He'll relate them whatever Sabe tells him, and besides, they need to unload the speeder. "Will they be alright?" Leia asks, voice wavering as she practically materializes next to him, dark brown eyes glistening with unshed tears. How much did she hear? It doesn't matter anyways.

More than anything, Anakin wants to promise in the affirmative. He wants to reassure her that Vader and Ahsoka will be okay, but he can't do that. He can't give them a false hope like that, and they're young, but they're old enough to understands the risks and dangers which all of them are taking, being rebels. "We'll find them," he promises instead, wrapping his arms around his daughter and hugging her tightly. "We'll find them." That much, at least, he knows. He doesn't want to think about what might happen if they get there too late, but they'll get there. Eventually.

He exchanges a helpless look with Obi-Wan, who seems as lost and worried as he is, as the latter begins to unload the supplies from the speeder with Luke's help. No one speaks, and Leia finally sniffles, reluctantly pulling away from Anakin as she goes to help her twin and uncles – Owen is out here too now.

Custos doesn't return, not in the time it takes them to unload the speeder, so Anakin knows that he must be talking to Sabe. Hopefully, she's reassuring him and comforting him. "We shouldn't have let them go," Anakin whispers to Obi-Wan once the twins are out of earshot, even Force-enhanced earshot. "We – we should have kept them here."

Obi-Wan wraps his arms around him, drawing him into an embrace without having to be asked. Anakin lets himself sink into it, clinging to his former master as he tries to assuage the fear and pain at the thought of losing Vader or Ahsoka. "I wish we could have too," Obi-Wan admits, "But you know as well as I do that they wouldn't have stayed here. Vader was restless, eager to be moving, helping. So was Ahsoka. We couldn't have kept them here. It would have been unfair to them. They knew the risks."