Anakin & Ahsoka: Two Souls - A Star Wars Fan Fiction

Brothers

Anakin knew what he had to do, Ahsoka was in danger, and she needed his help. He was no stranger to disobeying the Jedi Council's orders, but it had never been on this scale before. Anakin had barely left the room when it dawned on him, he was completely alone. The Jedi, the Republic, the Senate, they'd be of no help this time. He was operating outside of the Republic's interests, and was therefore operating on his own.

Determined not to let this stop him, he made a decision. He looked left, right and back again, before settling for the nearest available hangar to acquire a ship. He started walking, and activated his comlink.

"Artoo, you there?" he inquired, seemingly to thin air.
After a few moments of silence, he was greeted by the welcome sound of R2-D2's trademark bleeps and whistles.
"Good, I'm on my way to Docking Bay 47. Get a ship ready and meet me there buddy," Anakin instructed, followed by a reassuring bleep.

Anakin's tone around Artoo had always been more informal and friendly than one should be around droids. Perhaps it was simply a level of familiarity, perhaps it was just the way he talked, though, then again, Anakin had never really considered Artoo a 'droid.' To him, he was a friend. The two of them had been in many sticky situations together, and that little stumpy tin can had saved Anakin's life more times than he could count. If that wasn't the mark of a true friend, Anakin didn't know what was.

With that, he made for the docking bay. He passed by the Younglings' Training Room, where the initiates of the Jedi Order would begin their Lightsaber combat lessons for the first time. He peered in through the window. The pupils were sat, cross-legged on the floor, watching a martial arts demonstration from combat instructor Cin Drallig. Anakin noticed the innocence in their eyes, and felt a sense of pity. These children had their whole lives ahead of them, they could have been anything they wanted to be, if they hadn't been taken away by the Jedi before they could walk. Anakin wondered how long it would be before they realised what he had come to realise, how flawed the Jedi Order truly was.

He realised he was wasting time, and moved on. Before too long, he reached the docking bay, where Artoo was waiting for him, with a fully-prepped Jedi Interceptor ship ready for takeoff. For the most part, it featured Anakin's preferred colour scheme of yellow and grey, but this one also had a few stripes of black. Why, neither of them knew, but Anakin was strangely fond of it.

"Good work Artoo!" Anakin greeted. "Let's get going!"

Anakin began to climb the ladder leading to the cockpit of the ship. Just as he was nearing the top, he heard something. A voice, a voice he hadn't heard in a while, a voice that made him feel conflicted; happy and sad at the same time.

"Anakin! Wait!" the voice called.

It was a Jedi, but this Jedi wasn't like the others. He didn't bring Anakin pain and resentment like the rest of them, for this was the Jedi who had stuck by him through thick and thin, his friend, mentor and brother, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Master, what are you doing here?" Anakin asked, unsure how to respond to the situation.

Obi-Wan squinted, as though taken aback by Anakin's response.

"What do you think?" he said jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood, "I'm here to help!"

At this, Anakin was vexed. Obi-Wan was different from the other Jedi. He was kind, thoughtful, and understood Anakin's pain better than any of them, and yet, how would Ahsoka respond? A Jedi is a Jedi, and it was the Jedi who had destroyed her life.

Anakin just smiled as reassuring a smile as he could muster.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it, but..."
"'But'?" Obi-Wan interjected. "I had a feeling there would be one of those on the way," he stated in his usual, wisecracking manner.
"This is between me and Ahsoka," he began. He thought very carefully about his next words. "The first priority is rescuing her, and if I do that then, maybe..."
"She'll come back?" Obi-Wan concluded, knowing full-well that those three words were how the sentence would end. "Anakin, listen to me. She's made her choice. This is her path, and hers alone, it's not up to you to determine it for her,"
"I have to try!" Anakin blurted out, before the futility of the whole endeavour finally sunk in. He dropped his head low, defeated. "You're right," he admitted with a sigh, "It's her life, and I can't choose it for her. I just wish this whole thing had never happened," he said, his voice now almost a whisper.

Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to see the sorrow in Anakin's eyes. He was lost, more lost than he was when Qui-Gon Jinn found him on Tatooine all those years ago. Obi-Wan put his arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Anakin, I understand, really. I know what it's like to lose touch with someone close, and just want things to go back ti the way they were. Sometimes people we care about take different paths, or choose to do things we may not agree with, but it's their choice, and it doesn't have to negatively impact us. The best thing we can do is be there for them, regardless of what choices they make,"

These words of wisdom from his old master finally made Anakin realise what he had to do, and he snapped back into focus.

"Jedi or not, she's still your friend," Obi-Wan finished. "Go save her,"

Anakin smiled his first real smile in days. For the first time in a long time, he finally had hope.

"May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan said, smiling back.

With his newfound motivation, Anakin hurried into the cockpit of his ship, and readied himself for the journey ahead. In a few short moments, the roof shield lowered itself over Anakin's head, and he began inputting coordinates on the control panel. The hangar doors opened, and Obi-Wan watched as the ship slowly raised itself off the ground, before shooting off into the sky.