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Chapter 6 - Discovery

Author's Note: A familiar, yet unexpected, face shows up. ;)

~ Amina Gila

Anakin hasn't been back to the Council room since they first brought him here, and he really wasn't looking forward to going back, either. But after giving whatever reports Jedi normally do, Obi-Wan came to get him, saying the Council wanted to see him again. At least this time he can feel the Force, but he can't stop remembering the last time he was here when he couldn't. And he has no idea what they want now.

"We must continue the search for Abeloth," Master Windu says, looking directly at Anakin. He just nods mutely, unsure what, if anything, he's supposed to say to that.

"Do we have another lead?" Anakin queries hesitantly.

"No," the Jedi Master replies.

"Meditate, we will," Yoda interjects, "To locate this disturbance."

Anakin might trust Obi-Wan, but he certainly doesn't trust the Jedi Council. He doesn't want to be with them, much less work so closely with them. He doesn't know how he's supposed to find calm with any of them present, but the mission is to find Abeloth, so he can't complain about it.

He's used to it. It never matters how uncomfortable something makes him – he just does it anyways, no matter what's being requested of him. That's something Anakin has always known and done. They're authority, and thereby, he doesn't like or trust them at all, but he can't argue with their orders.

So here he is, trying – and failing badly – to meditate along with Obi-Wan and all twelve members of the Jedi Council.

Master Plo Koon isn't bad, at least. He's the only one Anakin can say that about, not that he knows the others on a personal level, but he doesn't want to.

He just wants – there's not even anywhere he can go that's safe, because he doesn't want to go back to Naboo with Sidious. He never wanted to be there, because it hurt, and it was so lonely, but he doesn't have anywhere else to go. Sidious is the only person who wanted him. Who does want him. Not...

He doesn't know anyone else.

And once this is over, he doesn't know if he'll ever see Obi-Wan again. He certainly isn't free here, but it somehow feels better than it did with Sidious, and Anakin can't... imagine going back to something so utterly confining.

It's stupid and childish to be worried about because Sidious needs him for something far greater than both of them, and he should just accept it. He should just be glad there's someone who has use for him at all. It's not fair for him to be so demanding.

Or – or –

Yeah.

He doesn't want to be here, but there's nowhere else to be.

Anakin's attempted meditation session ends up looping around that on repeat, at least until Obi-Wan reaches out through the Force to guide him, and he's actually able to find some direction, even if there's no calm.

He can't pinpoint the wrongness in the Force, though he sees something... else.

The image takes a while to shape, but it's a... garbage planet?

And there's a person there, someone he can't place, but Anakin can sense a strange level of familiarity. This is someone he knows, or at least has seen before. Someone he recognizes, though it's too hazy to place.

But there's something important about it, and they need to go there. He doesn't know why, but he can't shake the feeling that that's where they need to go next.