Title: In Spite of it All
Author: Katie (chess)
Pairing:Obi/Ani
Rating: PG
Time period:AU ROTS
Spoilers: for ROTS
Short Summary:The man he faced was everything Obi-Wan had devoted his life to destroying: Murderer. Traitor. Fallen Jedi. Lord of the Sith. And here, and now, despite it all ...Obi Wan still loved him.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to George Lucas


The man he faced was everything Obi Wan had devoted his life to destroying.Murderer. traitor. Fallen Jedi. Lord of the Sith. And here, and now, despite it all...Obi Wan still loved him. It was against everything he knew. Everything he had been trained for. It was a gut instinct, the one Anakin had nurtured and had given life too. It was all of their battles, all of their banter and friendship...and love.

Obi Wan loved this man. This man who had forsaken everything. Who had killed....little children. Obi Wan could see them now, cut down, terrified yet bravely fighting and Obi Wan saw Anakin do it. He saw him do it and he still....

Sweat made his lightsaber slip slightly. It gave Anakin the opening he needed and he drove his master to his knees, slamming the lightsaber down, again and again and all the while screaming.

"You tried to take her from me! You tried to take Padme...the only woman...you wanted her for yourself but you....."

"No!" The scream was ripped from Obi Wan, sounding as close to despair as Anakin had ever heard, it made him pause. Obi Wan glared at him, through tears hotter then the lava that surrounded them.

"I didn't love Padme...I could never love....I....."

"Liar" Anakin swung again, his own tears blinding him as he fought for an even breath, his whole body was one thrumming blade of light. Ready to kill the only person he loved, who knew him better then he knew himself.

"I loved you!"

The words were spat at him, half dying as they passed their owners lips and Anakin's hearing seemed to suck the words up as if in a vacum but not relaying them back to his brain. His arm moved, coming down amd slicing through Obi Wan's side. The scream of the man beneath him brought the words tumbling into his ears, too late.

'I loved you" Anakin blinked. Could it be true? Could Obi Wan really love him?

He stumbled backwards, lightsaber falling aimlessly to the ground. The thrumming blade of light became a cold hard sword as his knees gave way and he fell to the ground.

Obi Wan was crumpled nearby, body beaten, blood pouring onto the hard ground beneath him, he held his wound uselessly. He had been right and Yoda wrong. He could not kill the man he loved and so Anakin had killed him.

It made sense.

Anakin found his eyes returning to his master, seeing the broken body he had become. He lurched to his feet and dragged himself so he was lying beside Obi Wan.

"Mast...Master...please"

Obi Wan stared at Anakin, unable to speak, but willing Anakin to understand. For the first time Anakin tentatively reached for the bond they had formed as Master and Apprentice which had been strengthened by their friendship. He found it strained to breaking point, so fine he could barely feel it. Anxiously he reached with both hands, he reacted with instinct as always, reaching with both hands, filling their bond with love, trying to repair the damage that had been inflicted...the hurt and the lies.

Obi Wan's mouth was forming words but there was no sound.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry... hear me?" Anakin demanded. "I said I was sorry.....please...this isn't...."

He broke off as he felt Obi Wan brush his hand weakly against his own. The fake hand. He looked down and saw their palms clenched together even now. One finger gently caressing the outside of the other hand. He couldn't tell whose through his tears.

"Obi Wan, please...." Anakin could almost feel himself drown in his tears, finding it hard to breathe.

Obi Wan stuttered, his mouth opening and closing. "P....P....Pad..me"

It was all it took. Anakin whirled around seeing the still form of his wife. He swung back to Obi Wan, loving him more in that instant then anything else...but he couldn't leave Padme.

"Go...."

Anakin nodded, "I'll be a minute...One minute" he promised. He ignored the voice inside him that said Obi Wan didn't even have a minute. Anakin wanted to kiss him then, just once, but he told himself that Obi Wan would be okay...had to be okay for just one second.

On nerveless legs he ran to Padme, checking her over, quickly and precisely. He felt a pulse in her neck, slower then normal but nothing dangerous. A sigh of relief left Anakin as he felt his wife's warming body.

She would be okay.

He saw a flash of gold on the ramp of Padme's spaceship and yelled up at the golden droid there. "Threepio, take care of her" he ordered, already moving back to Obi Wan.

He slid to a stop beside Obi Wan's body, an inadvertant smile gracing his lips, the relief flooded him, he had grounded himself in the love he felt for Obi Wan and Padme. Who loved him back...now all he needed was to see Obi Wan smile at him...to kiss him....

Obi Wan's eyes were closed. Anakin shook him gently. His body was as limp as a ragdoll. Boneles. The smile slipped as Anakin shook him harder.

"Padme's okay, Obi Wan...She's getting looked after right now...it's you and me, like always. We're the team. The team, don't break the team....don't leave me...."

Anakin took a gasping breath as the bond they had forged died, something inside his gut and heart viciously twisted, causing Anakin to fall forward, his body leaning against the deadweight of his master.

"Please...no.....don't leave me...not now....not now that I know......"

Anakin lay there for a long time, wretched with the knowledge that even though Anakin was everything he had been trained to destroy Obi Wan still loved him.

End

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