Two Halfs of One Warrior • Obikin/Vaderwan One-Shots

All Tied Up On The Inside

• Summary: The Council sends the Team to fight General Grievous on Utapau. The night before the battle is not as restful as Obi-Wan hopes. Anakin refuses to let anything go, but somehow still gets everything that he wants.

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"Master Kenobi," asked Mace gravely, "Will you go to Utapau and face General Grievous, if he is indeed there?"

It was the sensible choice - to send one Jedi who could swiftly dispatch the remaining separatist general, while more powerful masters (and Anakin) remained on Coruscant to guard the Republic against a surprise attack from the still-hidden Darth Sidious. Mace was looking at him expectantly, his faith in Obi-Wan's abilities clear. Anakin was looking at him with poorly concealed resentment, too wrapped up in his endlessly wounded pride to realise that it was no insult to his powers for him to be kept nearby. Grievous was a serious threat, but worse was the phantom menace that had been stalking the Jedi for over a decade. But Anakin's strategic awareness had always let him down when it involved deliberate inaction, and Obi-Wan did not necessarily agree with the Council's current deployment of his former padawan.

"Actually," said Obi-Wan. "I think on this occasion we should honour the Chancellor's request. Anakin was the one who defeated Count Dooku, not I. I suggest we go together to fight Grievous."

Mace immediately looked thunderous, but the surprised pleasure on Anakin's face was worth whatever lecture Obi-Wan would shortly receive on not circumventing the wishes of the Council for the benefit of his former padawan. Anakin had a mission already, one he clearly hated, and going out into the field again would release him of it at least temporarily. Besides, the moment he said it Obi-Wan knew it was the correct path, the Force giving a strange little sigh around them.

"I agree," said Plo, before Mace or Yoda could speak. "This is another mission for the Team, I believe."

Another master gave a murmur of agreement, and with no more discussion the matter was settled. Anakin tried to hide his happiness with a façade of solemnity, but his eyes were bright as he looked across at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan couldn't resist returning his flagrant smile, bold enough to believe that together, they could bring an end to the war.

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Obi-Wan blinked, surprised to find himself out of bed, barefoot in an empty corridor somewhere on board his star destroyer. He'd been sleeping in his bunk a moment ago, he was sure - had he been sleep-walking? He shook his head to clear away the muzziness of sleep, then blinked again when he realised that he was standing in front of Anakin's berth.

He was still trying to figure out how he had arrived there when the bond between him and Anakin - a thin, thready thing still alive only through a refusal on both their parts to let it fade completely out of existence, even while neither had the temerity to actually use it anymore - suddenly vibrated like a plucked string, pulsing with pain and despair and suffering.

Without hesitation or even a moment's thought, Obi-Wan was opening the door and stepping through, led by Anakin's instinctive dragging on the bond, his padawan's silent scream for help. He went straight to the bunk, where Anakin was moving restlessly beneath the blankets, whimpering like a child. Obi-Wan hadn't seen him like this since he was a child, a fresh braid on his shoulder and full of anxiety about his new place in the galaxy.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, reaching for Anakin's shoulder to shake him gently. "Anakin, wake up." As he touched Anakin's bare skin he felt the Force shudder horribly, a sense of frigid and crushing darkness around him. He ended up falling forward, one knee raised to the bunk to keep himself from toppling completely onto Anakin. "Anakin," he said again, urgently, smothering the urge to panic and shaking Anakin harder. "Dear one, wake up, please."