Star Wars doesn't belong to me.

Anakin lay in the healing ward, his body unconscious and unresponsive, but his mind alert. He knew why he was there: he knew there was a Lightsaber burn through his right side, and he knew there were other burns covering his body. But he could not feel the pain that surely had to be there. Of this he was thankful, for when it set in, it was sure to be unbearable. Obi-Wan sat next to him, but would not respond to Anakin's prodding through the Force. And when Anakin reached out to his old Master through their bond, all he found was grief. Grief, helplessness, and despair. So distraught was the Jedi Master that he could not think clearly enough to sense Anakin's consciousness. Obviously the healers held little hope of him recovering, thinking him on the brink of death. No other reason could he think of that would cause such a reaction in the otherwise calm and collected Jedi. Perhaps this, being on the knife's edge, was why he could still hear what was going on around him, still be there without a trace of any of the pain he should be in.

But Anakin was always the stubborn one, and even this thought did not stop him from trying to reach his brother. Why won't you listen to me? Why won't you feel that I'm still here? Please, sense my presence. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be fine, I promise. Obi-Wan, you always say grief will cloud my judgment and to let it go, to release it into the Force. But look at you. You can't do that, and you can't even sense me when I reach out to you. I get it now. I see what you mean when you say that to me all the time. I understand. Please let that make a difference. Force, please let this be just some stupid trick to teach me a lesson. Please. Please. Feel me here, alive, awake, reaching for you.

Obi-Wan, I beg you.

Now you're crying. I can hear you. Not the sobs, but I can hear your breath hitching. You take my hand, and I can feel yours trembling. "I don't know if you're the bravest Jedi I've ever met or the most stupid," you whisper. You're telling me of what I did, jumping in front of that sly pickpocket who was able to take your Lightsaber- yours!- and knocking it out of his hand. But not before his thumb found the activation switch while the hilt was pressed against me. The blade cut a hole straight through my side, but I kept going, you're saying. I kept fighting until I had possession of your weapon and had accrued several more nasty burns and cuts thanks to the thief not knowing what he was doing and wildly swinging the plasma blade around. He was hoping to take me down so he could get to you, you tell me, but won't elaborate on how you know this. You wish you could have helped, I know. You don't have to say it for me to know that, but you don't understand. It's because I knew you'd help if you could that I did it. I love you as much as you do me, enough to put myself in harm's way for you. It doesn't only work the other way around. You had fallen prey to a trap – one usually used to catch wild nerf – and couldn't escape the lengthy coils of rope in time. The Force had whispered of danger to you, but you mistook it as a warning for me instead of for you. But it's okay, really. I forgive you, for there's nothing to forgive. Please let go of your grief. Release it to the Force like you always tell me to. I'm not gone. You can't get rid of me that easily!

Please, come back to the Light so you can feel me here next to you. I grasp the lesson, Master, I promise. I won't let grief cloud my senses, I won't give in to the Dark. I won't let it in, I swear to you. Please don't cry, Obi Wan.

~~~SW~~~

Anakin stirred, almost imperceptibly. A slight tightening of his fingers around Obi-Wan's alerted the older man to his slow awakening. "Anakin?" the Jedi Master prompted, "Anakin, please. Open your eyes. Look at me, I need to see you're back." Slowly, too slowly for Obi-Wan's liking, Anakin did, cracking his eyes open one at a time and focusing on the ceiling before he turned his head a tiny bit to look at his old Master. The small movement pulled at a deep cut on the side of his neck and he pulled a sharp breath in, but it escaped immediately in a strangled cry as the action aggravated his side. His grip on Obi-Wan's hand tightened as he slammed his eyes shut and tried to ride out the pain. A minute passed before he got his breathing under control and could open his eyes again. They were clouded with pain when Obi-Wan saw them next, mirroring the waves of pain he felt over their bond. But he knew, as bad as it felt for him, it was still only a taste of what Anakin was feeling.

The Knight took a few more shallow, steadying breaths. "What happened?" he managed in a scratchy whisper.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Anakin thought for a moment. "Taking your 'saber back from that thief," he decided. "Nothing after that. Nothing more."

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~Mirnava