For The Blood We Spill

Chapter 16 - Truce

Author's Note: I am so sorry for posting this a week late. *sobs* I genuinely thought it was already posted, and if someone hadn't commented, asking when I'll update again, I'm not sure I would have even realized until March. Lol.

Alsoooo... this is the end of the fourth arc. The fifth and last arc picks up right after this one leaves off. :)

WARNING: Depression and lots of angst. 

~ Amina Gila

Dooku does not come back, and Obi-Wan has no idea how much time has passed, either. Thrice, a droid has brought him food, but he's not wholly convinced that the length of time between each meal is equal; he suspects that it's not, that Dooku is trying to unbalance him by making him question how long he's been here, if it's been days or even weeks.

He does not think it has been weeks, but he has no way of telling the time either.

And then, suddenly, the cell door slides open again. Dooku is there, standing in the back, but that's not what makes Obi-Wan freeze in place, blood running cold. Two MagnaGuards are in the front, and between them is an all-too-familiar limp figure. Anakin.

The droids throw Anakin into the cell, and he would have hit his head on the floor if Obi-Wan hadn't darted forward to catch him. The angle is awkward, and without the Force to bolster him, the most he can do is slow Anakin's fall. He doesn't move, though, expression lax.

"What did you do to him?" Obi-Wan snarls, glaring at Dooku.

"A gift," Dooku answers, a thin smile on his face, "To give you motivation. Don't take too long to call me back. I don't think his body could handle it."

And then, he waves a hand, the doors closing and cutting off the faint trickle of the Force. Obi-Wan feels nauseous as the realization sinks in. Anakin has never handled Force restraints well – they do not work on him, and they leave him dizzy for hours afterwards – but this, this is torture plain and simple. Anakin's body cannot handle being cut off from the Force; it would kill him.

He clenches his hands, taking slow, even breaths as he checks Anakin for injuries. He finds nothing, though he doesn't know if he's more relieved by that or not. No injuries means that Anakin was probably electrocuted unconscious – not that he can do anything about it either way regardless, without the Force to help him.

It's only now that Obi-Wan actually lets it sink in that Anakin is here.

He has not seen Anakin in weeks, ever since he left the Order, and he had feared that he would not see him again for months – or worse, maybe ever. And yet, here Anakin is, lying on the floor next to him, alive and breathing. For now, at least. But even given that he's been captured, Anakin does not look good. At all. He doesn't seem to have eaten properly – much less slept – in... days. Maybe even longer. Probably longer, if Obi-Wan had to guess.

Reaching out, he traces a finger along Anakin's cheekbone, feeling its prominence, and a pang of emotion spears into him. Anakin is hurting, has been hurting for so long, and Obi-Wan never did anything about it. This is his fault, isn't it?

He thinks it might be, but he doesn't know when, exactly, Anakin started spiraling downhill. They need to talk. They needed to talk a long time ago probably, but Obi-Wan has never known how. He has never known how to get Anakin to open up, when to push him to talk, and all of his efforts only seem to make Anakin shut down more. He doesn't know. He doesn't know anymore what he needs to do.

For so long, he has tried to help Anakin, tried to teach him how to be a good Jedi, the best Jedi. Maybe he failed at that, somehow, somewhere along the way. Anakin left the Order. (Left him.) Obi-Wan never taught him to do that. He taught him how to sacrifice for the greater good. He taught him, or tried to, how to let go, but... despite it, Anakin still struggled, and he's never understood why.