Star Wars the Clone Wars - One shots

Missing In Action

Obi-Wan has a much-needed conversation withAhsoka after his 'death'.

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Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Good thoughts in. Bad thoughts out. Remember that Obi-Wan is alive. Forget that he died.

It was impossible.

Ahsoka ignored the cold Coruscant breeze that blew across her bare arms. She looked at the different scars on her forearms, each one marking a significant event in the last week in her life. Even when the injuries healed, she would never be able to forget what had happened.

There was a fading bruise on her left elbow from where she had scooped up Obi-Wan's still form and hadn't expected a dead body to feel so heavy. Before she even took his pulse, she knew he was dead, and the pain of her elbow hitting concentre had gone unnoticed.

A burn across her knuckles on both hands were from the crash on Orondia. She only registered the injury when she felt the burned skin stinging as she gripped her lightsabers, stood over Anakin's unconscious body. She had pushed past her head injury as well, refusing to lose a second Master in less than 72 hours.

The third injury was from Naboo. Evacuating Senator Amidala and the Queen from the grounds, she tripped on a stairwell and caught the underside of her right forearm. The carpet had grazed her skin, whilst the ledge of the stair cut a thin line across her skin. It had leaked blood onto the Queen's dress, but in the moment, it was ignored.

Ahsoka had felt more ignored in the past week than she had at any other point in her entire life.

Her montrals picked up vibrations behind her, and the Force told her exactly who it was. Where Obi-Wan's presence used to soothe her, now it just distressed her. She was too afraid of seeing his face, or hearing his voice, and mistaking him for Rako Hardeen.

"I've found her, Anakin..." She heard him say, "On the roof, of all places... no, no, she's just sitting here... Leave it to me."

The footsteps got louder, and then they stopped. She turned her head away to watch the city lights instead of looking at the man sitting beside her. A sob got stuck in her throat when he wrapped his cloak around her shoulders; it smelled like him.

"Would you rather speak to Anakin instead?" He asked. Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders in response; she didn't want to speak to anyone. Even after Obi-Wan died, she had resigned herself to silence for 24 hours, just like Anakin, despite Master Plo's desperate attempts to get her to open up.

If the Council wanted a reaction from them to prove that Obi-Wan was really dead, then they certainly got one. All they needed to do was publish the recordings from Ahsoka's quarters of her screaming Obi-Wan's name in her sleep as she constantly saw him laying lifelessly on the ground.

"Did you run away to force Anakin and I to speak to each other?" Ahsoka bit down on her lip; appalled that he thought she was that selfish. "Because if you did, it worked."

"After Master Qui-Gon died, I'm sure you wanted some time to yourself." She kept her voice cold, refusing to look at him. It was too painful to think about what his face looked like- his real face. "And you never had anyone dragging you around the universe to avenge his death."

Obi-Wan had killed Maul on the spot, even if he had been unsuccessful. Ahsoka wished she had been on the top of the building when the real Rako attacked. She wouldn't have stood any more of a chance than Anakin at capturing the bounty hunter, but she could've tried.

She barked a laugh, "I hate to admit it, Master Kenobi, but it would've been easier if you just stayed dead." She had to make one thing crystal clear: "Easier, but not better. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're alive."