Heroes of Our Time

Chapter 3 - Rebellion

The Force howls around them, rage, pain, and many other emotions to which Obi-Wan has no desire to name, hammering at his shields. Vader is in the epicenter, eyes wild, expression completely raw and broken. He – he didn't think that his words would have such an impact on the Sith, but it doesn't really matter anymore, because they're both going to die here. It seems poetic, fitting, that their final resting places be here.

Obi-Wan doesn't have any regrets, at least he doesn't have time for any regrets, because the Force storm which Vader has created – followed by another explosion from down below – shatters whatever supports the floor still had, destroying whatever handhold he'd managed to grab when he was hurled backwards, and the next thing he knows, he's falling. The flames are searing, licking at his flesh and clothing, but he mercifully doesn't land in them, tumbling through a hole in the flooring below, a hole which he didn't even realize existed. It's fortunate that it was there, or he would have died an agonizing death. He carefully doesn't allow himself to think about the expression on Vader's face.

At the time, he had thought it might make him feel better, to see that he's not the only one hurting from everything which had fallen apart. But seeing the pain on Vader's face only served to magnify his own, guilt choking his throat, leaving him unable to utter even a sound. Still, Obi-Wan pushes aside his emotions, leaving them locked behind his shields as he brings them up, concealing his Force signature entirely and completely blocking the bright bond in the back of his mind. If the Force has destined him to live, it would be best if no one realizes he's alive.

Faintly, he hears Vader scream his name, but it's lost amidst the roaring of the flames. Their heat is singing his skin, and Obi-Wan doesn't waste a moment, darting down the hallway as he seeks out an exit. Except the entire building is surrounded. It only makes sense because Vader would have been being cautious. He ignites his lightsaber in a smooth gesture, cutting through the thick durasteel wall, crawling out into the outside, and not a moment too soon.

The explosion that rips through the building is powerful enough to hurl him through the air. He lands hard, scraping his hands on the stones lying on the ground. He doesn't take the time to look back, crawling across the barren dirt and ducking into some shrubbery which will conceal him from sight, at least long enough for him to get away. Hard though it may be to live, to continue onwards in a galaxy which has been destroyed beyond any hopes of recognition, Obi-Wan refuses to give up, to take the easy way out. The Force has given him this gift, and he refuses to spurn it.

In the Force, he can feel a maelstrom of pain, of grief, and he closes his eyes against the intensity, bringing up his shields to block it out. He refuses to let himself be swayed so easily by Vader's pain. He's a mad, mindless monster; he has to be. There's no other explanation. Anakin was never like that. He was good. Kind. Compassionate. Caring. Force, he always cared so much for people. Obi-Wan could never understand how he could be such a good person after the horrors he endured as a child, whatever exactly they included.

Vader is everything Anakin never was or would have been. Selfish. Cruel. Filled with hate. It doesn't make sense on the surface, but a closer look reveals that Vader destroyed Anakin. He's the opposite of everything Anakin ever stood for. It hurts. It hurts so much to admit that Anakin is really gone, dead, destroyed by Vader. Obi-Wan lets himself feel the loss. He lets himself feel the pain that rips through him at the realization. Everything and everyone he's known is gone, and nothing he does will bring them back.

The loss of the Jedi, of all his family and friends is like a knife to the heart, but Anakin – he shies away from the thought, so acute is the pain. Anakin was, and always will be, his everything. He loved him as deeply and fiercely as he could anyone, and despite his struggles, he was hopelessly attached to his former Padawan. If Obi-Wan had Anakin at his side, this might actually be tolerable, but he doesn't, and it's not.