Shadows of our Past

XXIII

Obi-wan's POV

I stared out the window at the calming snowstorm, Ahsoka was in a stable condition and she was warming up slowly which was a relief but I still had a strong feeling that Anakin was still alive and that he was still out there somewhere. This couldn't be it, even though I couldn't sense him through the force right now doesn't mean I'd wouldn't feel his death. As Kol had said, the Force was technically Anakin's father which is one of the reasons the force conveys Anakin's emotions easily. If Anakin did die then I think something would have to change in the force even if I couldn't sense his presence, right? Rex and Cody probably think I'm crazy for wanting to go back out there to look for Anakin because not many people could survive in this freezing cold weather for 4 days. However, Rex and Fives agreed to go back out there once the storm cleared up. The 501st were all loyal to Anakin and trusted his word, Rex and the domino squad knew Anakin personally, not just the General and Jedi that he put on show for everyone else to see. 

The 501st and 212th had lost a lot of men in the landing on Hoth and on Christophsis so Rex and Cody would have to go to Kamino to recruit more troopers. In the past, we've had around 100 troopers in each squadron but the Jedi Council only recently decided to change the number to 200 and up.

"General, the storms letting up. We can go now if you want," Rex stated.

"Let's go," I replied.

We flew back to the crevice where we found Ahsoka and I meditated to try and sense Anakin's force presence or any force-sensitive thing or being. I was beginning to lose hope when suddenly the ship slowed down to a stop.

"General, there's blood in the snow!" Rex shouted.

I looked out the window and he was correct, I didn't think it was Ahsoka's blood but it was worth checking out.

"Let's go," 

We exited the ship and Rex examined the blood-stained snow while I reached out with the force. This was the right place, I could sense the force was pulling me in a certain direction. I grabbed Anakin's lightsaber that I had found in the lake and held it tightly.

"Please be here," I muttered.

"General, the blood doesn't look that old, maybe General Skywalker is around here somewhere," Rex said running over to me.

"Yes, I can sense something within the force," I replied frowning.

Rex waited as I made sure which direction the force was pulling me in before starting to walk. Rex adjusted his grip on his gun as we stopped in front of a large open cave, surprisingly the light shone through the thin ice of the cave and lit it up so we could see clearly into it, but that didn't stop Rex from being wary. Anakin must've rubbed off on the loyal captain. 

"Is that a Wampa?" Rex asked quietly.

I looked at the matted white fur and blood, it was. We moved closer slowly only to find out its head had been chopped off by a lightsaber.

"The blood still looks new," Rex commented. 

I looked around the cave until I spotted Anakin, lying on the ground, hopefully, unconscious and not dead. I ran over and knelt down beside my former Padawan pressing two fingers against his neck to check his pulse, for a second my heart stopped when I couldn't find one but then I felt a slow and weak pulse. Anakin was lying on his side with a hand still gripping Kol's lightsaber loosely, he was bleeding a lot. Two head wounds, his left wrist and arm were soaked with blood and it looks like the Wampa took a swipe at Anakin's ribs since there were four small tears in Anakin's tunic.

"Rex contact the base and tell them to get everything ready," I commanded.

"Yes sir," Rex replied before going back to the ship. 

I placed both of Anakin's lightsabers on my belt and carefully picked him up. His skin was ice cold and it made me shiver, I've dealt with hypothermia before but never as bad as this. 

I placed him on the stretcher in the ship as it took off and I tried to stem the bleeding from his arm as best as I could with a spare ripped robe in the ship. I monitored his pulse on his neck every few seconds with my other hand and didn't like how slow it was. 

When we landed back at the base it all happened quickly, Kix and some other clones came and took Anakin away to get treated and I finally let out a sigh of relief. It was kind of a miracle that Anakin was alive, any normal human couldn't survive four days in freezing cold weather but the force works in strange ways. 

Hours later Kix came over to me and informed me that Anakin was in a stable condition and I could see him if I wanted to. Anakin was in the same room as Ahsoka and when I walked in I felt the comforting presence of Anakin and Ahsoka. They were both still unconscious but their presence in the force was back and it made things feel normal. Ahsoka's presence usually wasn't too strong within the force but definitely not weak either, she tried not to project her emotions into the force but when she really believed in something she projected her feelings strongly into the force. Her presence was kind of familiar and comforting but as she's gotten older her presence has changed a lot and frequently as Anakin continued to teach her. Anakin's force presence, on the other hand, was powerful and strong and stood out from miles away, he constantly suppressed so it wouldn't be as powerful within the force and so it wasn't constantly bothering other Jedi. It was the force presence I knew the best since I couldn't sense my own force presence, it was comforting and I always associated Anakin's presence with family. Of course, it is forbidden for Jedi to have attachments but the Council didn't seem to point it out so both Anakin and I ignored that fact. 

I remembered Master Yoda's words to me when Ahsoka left the Order, I was trying to help Anakin and went to Master Yoda for guidance.

"Let go of your former apprentice, you have not. Always harder, it is, to lose them forever, than lose them a little bit,"