By My Side

Chapter 26 - Complications

Author's Note: No, I am not sorry for the cliffhangar. :')

~ Rivana Rita

Of course, Gunray decided to blame the Jedi for Grievous dragging him through the cruiser. He's using this whole ordeal to make the Jedi look bad, which Obi-Wan isn't surprised about in the least. What he is, however, surprised about is the completely outlandish claim that Anakin is working with Dooku, which under any other circumstances, Obi-Wan would have outright laughed about. It is, if he's being honest, amusing.

At least it would have been, if Master Mundi didn't have the audacity to point out that despite the sheer absurdity of the claim, there is a small amount of support. Namely, that the last time Anakin was captured by Dooku, he hadn't been... well, he wasn't injured.

And everyone knows of the sheer brutality of the Separatists. Everyone knows the horrors they inflict on prisoners of war, and Obi-Wan has to admit that it is... surprising that Dooku didn't... begin immediately. Anakin is a Jedi Knight, and he works closely with the Council. Everyone knows that, too.

"He is trying to turn us against each other," Obi-Wan points out.

"I believe there may be some measure of truth to it," Master Windu says, and all eyes immediately turn to him.

"Even if Dooku had an insider among us," Master Plo objects, "He would never allow it to be outed." It's the fastest comeback, and Obi-Wan is grateful for it because Windu's accusation was enough to make his mind momentarily freeze up.

"I trust him," Obi-Wan replies firmly. "Anakin would never betray us. He may struggle with our ways, but he values loyalty above all."

"The point remains," the other Master maintains stubbornly, "He may be a threat in the future. He is much like Dooku himself in his younger days."

Obi-Wan resists the urge to continue arguing. It... is true that Anakin has recently had a tendency to go into everything on his own instead of following the Council, but he has always struggled with rules, even if he never outright breaks them. He'll bend them as far as he can to see how much he can get away with.

He'll never ask for exceptions, though. Never.

Nothing with Anakin has been easy as of late, not since the time travel. Obi-Wan knows their relationship is different, but so much time has passed, and he doesn't know where they stood in Anakin's point in the future. There are many things that clearly went down between them, seeing how distant Anakin is.

It's unusual. Anakin has always spoken of his emotions, far more than a Jedi should, and Obi-Wan always tried to get him to... be mindful of that. He didn't realize how necessary it was until recently. Without that, it feels like he's stumbling blindly again, the same way he was at first, when he had no idea how to treat a padawan, let alone one from a background like Anakin.

But Obi-Wan can't entirely ignore the voice whispering in his mind, wondering if despite all the reasons the claim is obviously entirely false, there might be... something wrong. There is clearly something wrong, because he knows Anakin is hiding something. His padawan has always been easy to read, at least to Obi-Wan. To others, he's good at closing himself off, but Obi-Wan raised him. He can tell when something is amiss, and he can tell that right now.

It's not just... amiss. It's that he's scared. He's afraid of something, and Obi-Wan has no idea what.

Obi-Wan himself is... unsure of what to do. He still remembers what Anakin told him about himself and Ahsoka, and he has no idea how to... handle that. They need to talk again. He needs to ask Anakin what he meant when he said that he was hurting Ahsoka. That, Anakin seemed quite certain of, even if he didn't want to explain.