The Unseen

Chapter 5 - Memories

Anakin doesn't look at Obi-Wan or Ahsoka, even as the landscape changes around them, shifting into something else. Somewhere else. It's a memory. It's distinctly different from what the paradise world was like. Unlike there, Obi-Wan realizes he can feel faint echoes of emotions and thoughts, reminding him that they are, in fact, in Anakin's mind. They're standing in a hut lit by burning candles. Pain. Fear. Desperation. The emotions hover thickly in the air around them.

"No. No," mumbles Vader, falling to his knees and closing his eyes, right hand clenching into a fist. "Not this."

Obi-Wan is about to say something when movement catches his eyes. He turns, nearly gasping aloud at the sight before him. Anakin – looking as though he's still a Padawan – is crouched on the ground, cradling a woman in his arms. She's dying, and Obi-Wan can feel Anakin's horror all around them. It's his mother, he realizes. This is the memory of when she died.

"Now... I am complete," Shmi's voice is barely above a whisper, her hand reaching up to cup Anakin's face. Don't die. Don't die. I need you. The thought is loud enough that Obi-Wan hears it as though it was actually spoken aloud. He can see that Shmi had been beaten and tortured badly, probably for as long as Anakin had been having the nightmares. The thought sends a pang through him. If he'd done something, perhaps she wouldn't have died.

"Mom," Anakin breathes, desperately.

She doesn't even seem to hear him. "I... love –" her weak voice trails off, her head falling limply against Anakin's arm. Obi-Wan can almost hear the silent screams of denial, as pain and grief morph to rage. Anakin doesn't move for a long moment, holding his mother's dead body tightly in his arms. Those are emotions Obi-Wan can understand all too well, especially since Qui-Gon had died in his arms.

Almost robotically, Anakin lays his mother on the ground, rage burning so strongly that Obi-Wan is rooted to the spot. "Oh Force," murmurs Ahsoka, horror and sadness in her eyes. "I had no idea."

Nor did he. Anakin never talked about what happened. He'd only said that she had died. The Padawan stands up, his hatred reaching a new climax. Obi-Wan glances at Vader. His eyes are closed, but Obi-Wan knows that he's still reexperiencing the entire memory. They killed her. They killed her. They took her away from me. Anakin stalks out of the hut, igniting his lightsaber and cutting down the two Tusken guards outside. All Obi-Wan can do is watch in horror as Anakin mercilessly slaughters every living being in the camp.

He had known, of course, what had happened. In his time on Tatooine, Qui-Gon had told him about it, and he'd heard the legends, but seeing it is so much worse. It makes him realize that he had definitely failed as a teacher. He should have been better, done something differently to prevent this tragedy from occurring. And this was, he realizes, the first time Anakin touched the Dark Side, even though the circumstances were understandable.

He hardly has time to consider when the memory changes violently. Somehow, Obi-Wan knows that the Sith spirit is going to drag this out even longer than usual. He can feel her feeding the Dark Side into Anakin's mind, forcing him to relive his worst memories. His breath catches in his throat when he sees the scene taking form.

Ahsoka – the memory-Ahsoka – is cradling memory-Obi-Wan's body. He remembers this. It's when he faked his death to go on the undercover mission. He can feel the tumultuous emotions ricocheting around them. "How is he?" Anakin's asks tentatively, fear and desperation echoing into the Force.

Memory-Ahsoka looks up at him, tears glistening in her eyes, and he can feel the unmitigated horror and denial surging up. "Obi-Wan!" Anakin cries out, panicked, crouching down, and touching his former master as he lays limp and unmoving. "Obi-Wan!" Master, no. You can't leave me. I need you. I love you. Don't do this to me. You can't – can't die on me.