Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 88 - Chaos on Daiyu

Author's Note: We are slowly, but surely, approaching the end! :)

~ Amina Gila

Obi-Wan doesn't know what to think about how Vader is acting, and quite simply, not thinking has always been easier for him. He would have continued to do so if not for what Theseus told him, and now... This isn't his Anakin anymore, but it's been almost eighteen years, and Obi-Wan is no longer who he used to be. He took the name Ben when Anakin died, and that's who he still feels like.

And even if there is, somehow, a part of Anakin left, neither of them could become who they once were. Time is fluid. It flows forwards, not back. Years he spent hyper focusing on his loss. Those years shaped him, and it was Ben who remained when he finally accepted it.

It had been Vader who let him accept it, or he likely never would have, but in truth, he's a Sith, and he still destroyed the Jedi. He massacred them. Everyone.

Obi-Wan has let go of the Order already, but he cannot forgive that.

He still doesn't understand Vader's obsession with making him embrace the Dark Side. "Light always prevails," he says. "Darkness only brings death and destruction."

"That's not always a bad thing," Theseus objects before Vader can respond. "Some things need to be destroyed. It's a question of whether you do it with or without the Dark Side. A question of whether you chose to let it blind you or guide you, of whether you control it, or it controls you."

Obi-Wan doesn't know what to think of how Theseus, too, is using the Dark Side. It's not the same way, but it still... is, and it's dangerous. He hasn't lost himself to it, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a risk. (If he could control it, couldn't Vader – But no, Theseus never destroyed the Jedi. He didn't kill thousands senselessly.)

"Only the weak embrace the Dark Side and let it cloud their vision," he replies, giving the Sith a pointed look. "It takes strength to resist, and to let it go."

Theseus sighs. "Have you been preparing that speech since you last met?"

"You know nothing of strength," Vader retorts.

"If I am not mistaken, I defeated you. Twice." On hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that. The darkness in the Force flares. It's everywhere, permeating everything like Anakin's presence once did, only Vader is different. He feels emptier, though he's still clinging to... something. He feels like something that was taken apart and put back together but the pieces don't quite line up, leaving it rough and uneven, only it's inside, not outside.

Vader's gaze is fixed on Obi-Wan, though Obi-Wan doesn't think he's really looked anywhere else. "I was but a learner, and my powers have grown," he snarls. "It was as my master warned me. Our connection blinded my vision. I will not make the same mistake again."

"Fair enough, I would say," Theseus agrees, "But can we talk about this? I want to know what happened between you two." Obi-Wan has absolutely no desire to explain this. He doesn't even know how or where he'd start. "Where were you when everything fell apart?"

"I was on Utapau, fighting Grievous. I barely escaped with my life and regrouped with Master Yoda to realize what had happened to the other Jedi."

"And then what?" Theseus wonders, "How did you..."

"We snuck into the Temple, and I saw the security recordings," Obi-Wan continues, trying to ignore the emotions he always feels when he thinks of it. He doesn't even want to think of how Vader said my master even a moment ago, remembering how reverently Anakin had once said it about him. "I saw how Vader slaughtered them. I saw the bodies there."