WHO: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker WHEN: This afternoon WHERE: Gateway Cruises medbay/quarantine WHAT: Obi-Wan arrives and Anakin comes to greet him. WARNINGS: None
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It had been a long time since Obi-Wan had seen any location outside of Tatooine. In fact, he had been quite certain that he wouldn't ever likely see the surface of another world again. And though he hadn't been on Tatooine long, he had become familiar with the architecture of the world. There was not much in the way of variation. In the hypothetical, if he had been relegated to relying solely upon his sense of vision for information, he'd have known he was no longer upon the planet the moment his eyes had opened. He was no longer in his home. He was in a medical facility. There was a seemingly human looking species approaching him.
But he wasn't relegated to simply one sense and there was far more information to be gathered; and to be gathered quickly. This facility was not housed in a stationary structure. There was slow movement that one could easily learn to ignore but noticeable if you tried. There was a distant sound. Perhaps waves? How long had been since Obi-Wan had been on a structure of water? Sometime during the Wars, certainly. While the man moved to stand properly, facing the approaching individual, his focus was turning to the Force. Even in times of confusion and disorientation, both of which were feelings that Obi-Wan was presently feeling, he knew to turn his trust to the Force and have it guide him. In the immediate, he was given an answer about the individual that was in the room with him. No human or humanoid at all. A droid.
Obi-Wan wanted to rely upon the Force, to reach out, and to have it guide him in his confusion; but the droid was now addressing him. Instinct told him there was nothing to fear from this droid. And while he complied with the requests, his main focus was now turning away from the droid, especially once it appeared to be done with its obligations. It had handed him a pamphlet, given him a timetable for his release, and a device that Obi-Wan did not quite recognize. All items were set down and as soon as the droid was gone, he'd moved to sit down, and let his focus return to gaining answers of his own. He reached out, with answers still rampant in his mind, and found that there were many souls in close proximity to this room. He was not alone. And, among those, there was a presence.
A presence he hadn't felt in a long time.
And another. And another.
Qui-Gon.
Ahsoka.
Anakin?
No, not Anakin. Vader. Though, with fixation now upon him specifically, he did not feel the same as he had during their last encounter. He felt more as Obi-Wan remembered him, as the brother that Obi-Wan continued to mourn the loss of, and for this he did not properly understand.
He searched more. Was Lars present? And the boy? He could not feel either of them upon the vessel. There was traces of the familiar, of which he could not quite place an explanation on, but it was not as clear as it was for the other presences; and certainly not as much as it was for Vader. With a steadying breath, he brought his hand up to his face, with his thumb going under his chin and his index finger resting against his upper lip.
If he could feel the presence of Vader, or Anakin, he knew his presence was already likely known.
"I know you are there," he spoke out, reaching out with the Force, addressing him full on. Qui-Gon and Ahsoka would have to wait.
A few years ago, Anakin's old master had expressed doubt that Anakin's senses were attuned enough to detect presences in an adjacent room. Obi-Wan had soon learned otherwise. After all the years they had spent as with Obi-Wan as his master, and then something of a mix of his brother-in-arms and father figure, Anakin was well familiar with Obi-Wan's presence in the Force. Becoming suddenly aware of it after months since Obi-Wan's departure was enough to startle Anakin out of his physical exercises.
Obi-Wan was here, now, on the ship. Anakin didn't doubt that Qui-Gon would sense Obi-Wan, too, and that the others sensitive to the Force would grow aware of Obi-Wan's presence. None of them, however, had the complicated relationship that Anakin had with Obi-Wan.
After all, Anakin remembered killing his old master. He remembered Obi-Wan leaving him to burn.
It would take a few hours to actually speak to Obi-Wan face-to-face without using technology or the Force as a go-between. Quarantine couldn't be rushed. Still, Anakin was impatient to see Obi-Wan. He'd missed him, even with the painful memories he now carried. He was quick to head for the deck with the med bay so he could be present.
Obi-Wan's words came to him through the Force. It wasn't the way they would usually communicate, but being on the same ship made it much easier than when he would reach out to Luke across many kilometers or even across lightyears. He reached out to Obi-Wan in return.
"Hello, Master." Even though Obi-Wan hadn't actually been his master in years, the title persisted. "You will be released soon."
Conflict immediately was present in Obi-Wan. By this point, he was aware of Vader's survival. It had been an emotional moment for Obi-Wan when he'd heard the name spoken, even on the desolate terrain of Tatooine, and he'd nearly fainted from the shock of it all. When he'd turned away from Vader, with his former apprentice's lightsaber in his hand, he'd believed it was the end of the man. He hadn't made certain and that day on Tatooine, when he'd discovered this fact, he'd wondered just how his inability to guarantee Vader's life was ended was going to come back to haunt him and the galaxy.
And, yet, there was the almost crushing ache of longing. Longing for a time that he'd never see again; when Anakin was still just Anakin. When the war hadn't brought about the destruction of nearly everything he cared for. Hearing the words spoken made Obi-Wan's eyes shut, as conflicting feelings turned over inside of him. He missed his brother. And yet he had evaded him since discovering his life hadn't ended.
Was it possible that this was the netherworld of the Force? He'd been seeking the path to it ever since he began his exile. Yoda had made it his other primary focus. Immortality through the Force. Qui-Gon's presence was here. If Obi-Wan reached out far enough, he could possibly communicate with his former master; and there was no denying that this desire was strong. But Vader wasn't illuminous as far as Obi-Wan knew. And he hadn't ever been certain about whether Ahsoka had managed to escape the slaughter of her former Order.
He turned to face the window, expecting to see a suit of black armor and machinery, and he opened his eyes. The wind nearly felt kicked out from him.
Anakin.
He was not able to mask the shock of seeing his former padawan, standing just outside the room, a nearly identical image to that of Obi-Wan's memories. Moving to find use of his words, Obi-Wan nodded, though his eyes were fixed upon Anakin now. "Yes," he began, "so the droids have said."
The intercoms on this ship had a clearer audio quality than those in Tumbleweed, so Obi-Wan's voice was only barely distorted from the other side of the window.
"I can feel your confusion and your conflict." Anakin kept his arms tucked inside his opposite sleeves. His own emotions were conflicted, too. When he'd last seen Obi-Wan in Tumbleweed, they had only barely repaired their friendship from their tensions over Anakin choosing the dark side. Obi-Wan's disappearance had put Anakin into a tailspin. Anakin's new therapist, Charles Xavier, had called it 'decompensation' and 'consistent with a manic state;' Anakin had barely slept, worked almost frantically on projects, became more aggressive and paranoid, eventually ruined his marriage.
That was all without the actual memories of his later life. Now he remembered Obi-Wan, aged by life on Tatooine yet still very much the man he'd been, needlessly dueling him to keep him distracted. He remembered Obi-Wan inexplicably dropping his guard and allowing Vader to strike him down, and impossibly disappearing in death. It was not a satisfying victory.
There was more white in Obi-Wan's hair and beard than there had been on Mustafar, but the sense of aging was more in Obi-Wan's weariness than his physical state.
"Have you had time to read the materials you've been given? They'll answer many of the questions I'm sure you have."
"I trust you understand why the feelings are present," he commented, though he didn't necessarily need a confirmation. Still, Obi-Wan's eyes remained upon Anakin, taking in the appearance as a whole. He was just as he remembered him. There was no evident signs of burns that had been healed, no cybernetic replacement limbs sans the one that had been there since the Clone Wars began. It felt just like memory, only Anakin was certainly there and present. He trusted his sense and the Force well enough to not doubt that, even if it did not make sense when coupled against logic. Even barring what had occurred on Mustafar, his padawan should have shown some signs of aging at the very least, and yet he did not.
He finally pulled his gaze from Anakin, casting it over his shoulder in the direction of the pamphlet that was set on the counter with the electronic device on top. He turned to scoop them up in his hand. "I have not," he replied, his gaze now shifting back to Anakin. "I'll admit to being focused more on what I felt could not be.
"And, yet, here you stand."
"I do," Anakin said. He knew his own physical state clashed with what Obi-Wan must remember, and with his own memories, but with the Force they could sense beyond what was on the surface.
He gestured toward the materials that Obi-Wan was holding. "Those will tell you the key things to know about where we are and what little we know about how we come to be here. You can probably read them more quickly than I could explain out loud. I'll give you some time with them, if you'd like. Or we can just jump to what I'm sure you want to ask."
"I'll start here," he said. He did not know if he should tell Anakin that he did not need for him to wait for him or not. He wasn't even certain Anakin would listen if he were to ask him to leave. Nor did he know if he wanted him to. Indecision was not a feeling he was accustomed to.
He shuffled the electronic device into his pocket, without a second thought, as he moved to open the pamphlet. Anakin was correct. It would be more efficient to read the materials that had been handed to him. Had he not have been taken so easily by surprise, perhaps he'd have been able to focus on them sooner, but that did not matter. He was glancing now. He read quickly, with the full knowledge that he'd likely come back to it for more answers later, but wanting to get a general grasp for now.
Upon finishing, he folded it quietly and looked back up to the glass. "It makes reference to timelines and placement in them. This would be the explanation for yourself as well as Qui-Gon, I presume?"
Anakin waited for Obi-Wan to finish, eyes closed and hands behind his back as he tried to keep his thoughts from racing wildly. He wasn't able to achieve a meditative state, but it was better than staring impatiently at Obi-Wan.
When Obi-Wan finished reading, Anakin opened his eyes and nodded. "Qui-Gon's mortal injury has been repaired. He hasn't died. As for me, that's… a bit more complicated."
Obi-Wan took a steadying breath with that statement. It seemed a logical explanation when paired against the context of the other information he'd just absorbed. The notion of his former Master being present, alive and well, was enough for Obi-Wan to take a moment of pause before allowing himself to handle the more complicated nature that was Anakin.
"I believe I have a few hours to waste," he said.
"You do. They're making sure you don't have a bad reaction to the immunizations."
Anakin could comfortably stand for quite some time, so he didn't bother with a chair just yet. Establishing the 'when' of where Obi-Wan had come from wasn't necessarily critical— they hadn't crossed paths after Mustafar until the Death Star— but he wanted to know. "You've been on Tatooine with my son for how long?"
"That's reasonable enough."
Anakin knew of Luke. It didn't seem that implausible, given what he'd just read and the presences of those also on board the ship, but it still took a moment to accept. "Luke is just over a year old."
"Not long at all." Anakin sighed softly. His hand went to rest on the lightsaber hanging on his belt. It wasn't the one Obi-Wan had collected from him and later given to Luke, but the one he would build as Vader.
"What I look like and have physically lived doesn't match what I have memories of. I remember Luke as an adult, but physically I haven't been… where you last saw me." His voice grew wistful, "What is he like?"
His eyes shifted to the lightsaber. It was entirely unfamiliar. He cast his eyes back up and his arms shifted to cross over his chest. "Is that common place here? Memories being ahead of our forms?"
He shook his head and cast his eyes down to the ground. He wasn't certain he should answer that, or any, question about Luke. And it wasn't as though he could give much of an account even if he weren't hesitant. Owen was making it quite clear that he did not want Obi-Wan's assistance. "I imagine he's developing adequately. No harm has come to him." Of this, Obi-Wan was certain, and it seemed safe enough of information to relay. "You say you meet him as an adult?"
"Common enough that people have a term for it, 'memory upgrade'."
Noticing Obi-Wan's brief gaze, he unclipped the lightsaber from his belt and held it up to the window so Obi-Wan could better see it. Its design was very much inspired by his original lightsaber design that had been destroyed on Geonosis, but with larger proportions and black materials.
"That's an evasive answer. Yes, I do. I, of course, did not know his true identity when me met, nor did he know mine." He realized he was slipping into the formal diction he would later adopt, and he tried to make himself stay more like Obi-Wan knew him. "I've seen where you live. It's quite a distance from Luke's homestead."
"That's direct and to the point," he commented, idly.
Lifting his gaze back up, he caught the movement. He found himself drawing closer to the window, letting the pamphlet slide into the pocket of his robes as he'd done the device, and came to a stop not far from the glass. He examined the lightsaber in silence, taking note of the similarities, but even more so the differences.
"That was the way I desired it to be." If Anakin was aware of his future memories, then it wouldn't be a shock to state his intentions on that matter. Obi-Wan did not wish for Vader to have any contact with Luke, nor Leia, so knowing that he succeeded in this goal at least until Luke's coming of age was a minor comfort. "It is, but I keep an eye."
He'd have certainly prefered to be closer but, well, Owen was an obstacle. He didn't want to push the man into barring him so effectively that he not be able to aid if ever necessary.
The kyber crystal of a lightsaber called specifically to the one who would wield it, but those that were taken and corrupted by the Sith no longer had the kyber's natural tendency towards the light side. Obi-Wan had been able to sense individuals across the ship, so Anakin didn't doubt that Obi-Wan would be able to sense that his lightsaber bore a crystal twisted to the dark side. It wasn't that Anakin was aligning himself with the dark at this time, but wielding his Jedi lightsaber felt… wrong. Like he was no longer worthy of it. Ahsoka kept it safely stored for him.
"They raised him well. Owen and Beru Lars. They loved him, and he loved them. But he never had enough training. Why is that?" Anakin knew snippets of Luke's history with the Lars family, but almost nothing of Obi-Wan's relationship with Luke. He was, however, losing sight of what time Obi-Wan was coming from.
"I had no doubt they would." For as much as Owen pushed back against Obi-Wan, he knew that Owen and Beru loved Luke a great deal. He wanted Luke to have as normal of a life as possible. He knew that those simple years wouldn't likely remain for the young Skywalker, so trying to ensure he had peace for as long as possible had been important to Obi-Wan. On the other statement, however, Obi-Wan lifted his gaze and looked to Anakin.
"That is a bit past my access of knowledge, don't you think?" He asked. For all Obi-Wan knew, he could have succumbed to any number of ends while Luke was relatively young. Perhaps Luke never even became aware of his lineage or potential from Obi-Wan. It was impossible for him to know what happened in the future.
Or, no, perhaps it was not. Anakin knew of the future. There were 'memory upgrades.' But he'd just arrived; and no such information was given to Obi-Wan on the subject.
"... Oh, right." Anakin paused. "Will you tell me sometime how he came to be with them? That's within your scope, right?"
He looked to the nearest chrono to check how much longer Obi-Wan would be in quarantine. "I'm sorry, I've gone really off track. We can talk about that some other time. What do you need to know right now?"
He hesitated once again. As of yet, he did not sense any falsehoods from Anakin's statements. He did not believe that he was being lied to about any of the information that Anakin had presented him thus far. It seemed unlikely of anything he spoke being used to obtain and harm Luke. Not if they were in another dimension, as the pamphlet had said.
"Sometime, I will," he agreed.
He almost wanted to smile at that. Some other time. But, he did not, and instead shook his head. "There are other Force sensitive individuals here. I can't place who they are. Are they from before us?"
"Thank you." Anakin had lost so much time with his children thanks to his own actions. Obi-Wan was one of the only people (besides Luke himself) who could ever tell him about Luke's history, but Luke of course wouldn't know about his own infancy.
Anakin made a so-so gesture with one hand. "One is from thousands of years before. Others are from years after us. Including, um…" How to explain this? "Ahsoka is here. Older than me, actually. Leia is here from my own timeline, and she's even older than you. And her adult son is here, too. Several other people are also here from their time. But a second, younger Leia is here as well from another timeline, and so are two of her sons. Luke was with us before, from their timeline. And… other people have come and gone as well."
He wasn't sure if telling Obi-Wan he'd been around more than once would be too unsettling right now. He knew he hadn't liked the thought when he'd been told that 'Anakin Skywalker' been here before, yet he had no memory of that. At least he now had the benefit of knowing there were other timelines, so he hadn't necessarily lost some memories.
"I was aware of Ahsoka," he noted. He hadn't been in her company since she'd left the Order but he could still recognize her being in close vicinity to himself. However, her apparent growth in age was not something he was expecting; which in itself was the saying of the hour. His head turned to the side, just barely, as Anakin continued on with the explanations.
It'd been over a year since Obi-Wan had been in the presence of Leia Organa. She was meant to be the same age as Luke, living in safety on the surface of Alderaan. Her being here, represented from two timelines, was even more to wrap his head around than Ahsoka's age difference. And imaging either version of the woman with children?
He withheld a sigh and nodded his head in response to Anakin. "The pamphlet says that seems to occur at random," he spoke, more to illustrate some sense of understanding as to the situation. Anakin likely already knew this. He glanced downward and moved to pull the sheet of paper from his robes once again. "I believe I'd like to look through this some more," he added, before turning his gaze back to Anakin.
"You do not intend to leave this vessel anytime in the near future, do you?" For all Obi-Wan knew, they could be setting down in a dock within a hour.
Anakin nodded to Obi-Wan. As usual, Obi-Wan was quick to grasp the situation even with little information to go on. "Other things happen at random, too, but the comings and goings are the most often. It's been just over a year for me."
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No intentions to leave, and we aren't scheduled to dock again that I know of. By the way. That device you pocketed has a sort of primitive HoloNet. You can reach me through it, if you wish. And my room here is 410."
A year. This startled Obi-Wan but he did his best to mask the feeling from appearing across his features. There was plenty more he could question about that statement, but he turned the pamphlet over in his hands, feeling as though perhaps he could gather many of the answers still from it. Anakin had been accurate in saying it would be quicker than explaining, though he was sure he could rely on his old padawan to go into details should he wish.
"Then, I shall see you after my release." At the present, he was simply absorbing all the information. At some point, the gravity of it all was likely going to fall upon him, and that might affect his desire to see Anakin. But, at present, he wasn't against being in his presence without the panel of glass between them. His hand slipped into his pocket, finger curling around the device, and he held it against the palm of his hand. "I'll be certain to use it to reach you."
"As you wish." Anakin inclined his head towards Obi-Wan. He turned to walk away, but paused first to add, "By the way, Artoo is here. And it's good to see you."
He deliberately kept his back to Obi-Wan, not wanting to risk potentially seeing Obi-Wan feeling less than pleased at what he'd just said. He doubted Obi-Wan felt it was 'good'. Waiting on Obi-Wan wouldn't be a restful few hours for Anakin. Obi-Wan would surely have more questions for him later, and Anakin knew others would likewise want to question Obi-Wan or tell him things about the future. It wouldn't be relaxing for Obi-Wan, either.