This is my first posted fic, so some leniency with the quality would be much appreciated. Constructive feedback is, of course, welcome. I hope you enjoy the story as I write it. :)

(Also posted on ao3)

Obi-Wan stood on the steep hillside, his lightsaber ignited.

"It's over, Anakin!" He huffed loudly. "I have the high ground!"

His former apprentice stood on the hovering platform a couple yards away, glaring at him with all the ferocity of a wild animal.

"You underestimate my power!" Vader growled. His grip on his lightsaber tightened as he planted his feet in preparation to jump.

"Don't try it!" Obi-Wan warned, realizing what he was about to do.

Don't do it, he thought frantically. Don't be a fool. Just walk away please, don't make me hurt you-

Vader leapt toward him with a guttural scream. Quick as he could, Obi-Wan slashed at him, severing his organic limbs at the joints. Vader crashed to the ground with a cry of pain and slid down the hillside toward the molten river below. He groaned in shock and agony, desperately clutching the loose dirt with his mechanical hand to keep himself from falling into the lava.

Obi-Wan gazed at him, utterly speechless, and tears began streaming down his cheeks at his friend's tormented moans.

Anakin, my Padawan, my brother, why? Why, how could you?

With another heart-rending groan, Vader reached for him with his remaining arm, causing him to slide dangerously close to the lava below. It was then that, with a terrified frown, he cried out a frantic plea.

"Help me!"

The words pierced Obi-Wan to his very core and suddenly, an influx of memories swarmed his mind.

"Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Pleased to meet you!"

"What will happen to me now?"

"The Council has granted me permission to train you. You will be a Jedi. I promise."

"I haven't felt you this tense since we fell into that nest of gundarks!"

"You fell into that nightmare, Master, and I rescued you, remember?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?"

"Don't say that, Master! You're the closest thing I have to a father."

That last one stuck with Obi-Wan. By his own admission, Anakin had once regarded Obi-Wan as his family. Though he'd never expressed so, Obi-Wan had come to share that sentiment, in spite of the Jedi Code's prohibition of attachments. His eyes locked onto Anakin's, saw the fear and pleading in them, and something inside him broke.

This wasn't a Sith Lord.

This was his little brother; hurt, scared, and begging for help.

Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and rushed down to the riverside, taking care not to stumble into the lava himself. Grabbing Anakin by his remaining arm, he hoisted him over his shoulder and began making his way back to Padmé's ship, picking up Anakin's saber along the way. Anakin continued to wail in pain and each of his tormented cries stabbed like a knife at Obi-Wan's heart.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered more to himself than the fallen Jedi. "I'm so sorry."

Obi-Wan ran as fast as he could, exhaustion from their preceding duel beginning to overtake him. Halfway through, Anakin fell silent, having fainted from the pain of his injuries. Eventually, they arrived at Padmé's ship. C3PO descended the boarding ramp to greet him, R2-D2 beeping sadly behind him.

"Oh, Master Kenobi, Miss Padmé is onboard," Threepio informed him. "Is Master Anakin alright?"

"He's been injured," Obi-Wan said, waving off the question.

"Oh yes, I see," the flustered droid said. "Oh, I think perhaps we had better leave this dreadful place at once, yes."

The droid scuttled back up the ship's ramp, and Obi-Wan followed after him. After strapping Anakin to a bed, he checked on Padmé. Gently, he laid a hand on her shoulder and she stirred at his touch.

"Obi-Wan," she mumbled, staring at him faintly. "Is Anakin alright?"

Obi-Wan was at a loss for words. What was he supposed to tell her?

Before he could give an answer, she slipped back into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan swallowed anxiously. It was obvious she needed medical aid; Anakin even more so. Rushing to the pilot seat, he took to the ship's controls and guided the vessel off-world. A few minutes later, they were in hyperspace, on course for the nearest medical facility at Polis Massa.

With a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan then decided to check on Anakin. He found the young man still unconscious, accompanied by Artoo, who seemed to be guarding his master.

Of course, he thought.

Despite Obi-Wan telling him otherwise countless times, Anakin had insisted on treating his astromech as if it were a living person. It only made sense for the droid to feel concerned about its master, given the close bond they shared. Artoo let out a sad whistle upon seeing Obi-Wan standing nearby. Obi-Wan's binary wasn't the best, but he knew enough to discern that Artoo was asking him about Anakin's well-being.

"Don't-don't worry, Artoo," he said awkwardly. "He'll be fine."

How ironic that he, a man who viewed droids as just an amalgamation of wires and programming, should be comforting one right now.

Obi-Wan drew closer to the bed, grimacing at the sight of Anakin's stumpy limbs. The wounds had been instantly cauterized by his lightsaber, so there was minimal danger of infection or blood loss, but even so, they were a grisly sight to behold. Anakin let out a pained moan in his sleep, his head turning feverishly. Obi-Wan closed his eyes. Seeing Anakin like this brought back memories of when he had first lost a limb to Dooku on Geonosis.

The pain Obi-Wan had sensed from Anakin through their training bond had been blinding hot; so terrible that Anakin had fainted almost instantly from it. Afterward, came the phantom pain, which had been so bad early on that, without painkillers, Anakin would wake up crying with agony at night, even after receiving his mechanical limb. It had broken Obi-Wan's heart to see his nineteen-year-old padawan go through so much pain.

He opened his eyes and stared guiltily at Anakin's wounded limbs. Anakin would suffer this torment threefold now because of him.

I never wanted to hurt you, he thought remorsefully. I'm so sorry I did.

He gently stroked Anakin's hair away from his face and began channelling serene waves to him through their bond. Slowly, the young man relaxed and grew still. It was only temporary relief, Obi-Wan knew, but at least he was at peace for time being. He somberly studied Anakin's now placid expression. Looking at him now, one would never expect, let alone believe, that he had done terrible, terrible things in the past two days.

Obi-Wan let out an exhausted sigh. To think that only several days ago, Anakin had been smirking at him, playfully upping his count on the number of times he'd saved Obi-Wan's life. Since then, it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong did. The Jedi had been betrayed and murdered by their own clones, Palpatine (revealed to be Darth Sidious) had declared himself emperor, and Anakin had become an acolyte of the dark side. Obi-Wan put a hand to his face, wiping away the drying residue of tears he'd shed from earlier. Of all the events that had occurred in the past forty-eight hours, Anakin's betrayal hurt the most. Even now, it was difficult to process: his little brother, whom he'd raised and loved deeply, an angry and hate-filled Sith with dark ambitions.

Obi-Wan bit back a sob. No. He couldn't break down. If he did, he would surely lose himself, and then who would take care of Padmé and Anakin? So he did what he'd always been taught to do: released all his pain into the Force. As he did so, the hurt and sorrow gradually dulled and were replaced by a sense of calm.

He felt better now. He could do this. He could carry on for a while longer. His composure for the time being restored, Obi-Wan returned to his seat at the ship's console.

He sat in silence the rest of the trip.

Author's Note: So if you didn't know, the Immolation Scene originally had Anakin cry out to Obi-Wan for help immediately after being de-limbed. This sort of made it into the final film as you can see Anakin mouth something along the lines of, "save me", just before Obi-Wan deactivates his lightsaber. However, this was dubbed over with the agonized groans you now hear when watching that scene.

If you would like to know more about this interesting bit of Star Wars trivia, I suggest you go watch Star Wars Theory's video about it on Youtube!