#brutedivinity

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller meme | accepting

   Hermes smirked as he listened. It was soft and indulgent like a father because Dionysus has never exactly been a sibling but closer to one of their own. “So when do I get to meet this girl who’s been practicing her smile huh?” He asked reaching to ruffly the other god’s hair. “Gotta make sure she’s gonna treat you right don’t I?”

❛ You know what I mean. Recklessness will sooner get us killed than it will help us get any closer to finally freeing you, ❜ plans had been debated back and forth spanning hours of deliberation. Frustration soon calmed, tempers flared for only the briefest of moments. Still, with Anakin by his side, they somehow felt invincible. 

Oh, so Anakin was going to play scolding Jedi Master? What was next, some long spiel about the numerous and tempting paths to the Dark Side? Lectures that - in another life - he was sure he had given Anakin. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Obi-Wan tipped his head to lean back against the cold hull of the ship. Arms crossed, almost petulant although he would deny it in an instant. There was something about the Sith which always brought out a more playful side he didn’t know he had.

❛ Then I suppose I’ll just have to take them, ❜ kicking off the wall he’d been leaning on, simply watching the oddly calming force that was Anakin. The sun playing with boyish features, that meditative expression of working with his hands. There was something almost angelic about the Dark Lord; although he would never admit it.

Leaning over the back of the blond’s chair, fingers curled around the backrest. A chaste kiss pressed to Skywalker’s temple, then his cheek, then his jaw where those softened locks curled with graceful ease. One, two, three. 

The duel wore on tirelessly, both sides unable to break through the other’s defences. Breath came out in shallow pants, arms aching with exertion. Fingers cramped around 'saber hilt, as those the weapon had fused to Kenobi's arm. There was only one way this could end: in death. This was not a battle of strength or skill, it was one of endurance. As minutes dragged on mistakes were made; swings became sloppier and footing clumsy. The heat of Mustafar was oppressive; sweat beading on brows and running down backs. Kenobi could hardly breathe for it, the dull thump of dehydration in his temple almost agonising. Every second brought him closer to exhaustion; closer to a fatal error. He wanted to stop, he needed to stop. As though this was nothing more than a training match gone too far.

Obi-Wan felt his boot slip on crumbling rock with a shout, and it was only by a desperate swing he avoided being cleaved in two by Vader's aggressive stroke. The Jedi looked up - panicked despair coating his pallid features - as he meets those molten eyes once more. The eyes of a predator, and was he the prey? Where was that gentle blue he so adored? Those eyes which had always betrayed his old Padawan's emotions? Obi-Wan could tell just by gazing into them what Anakin was thinking about, what was wrong. Now there was nothing but a cold, harsh stare of the devoid. Where was Anakin in this dark creature of Sidious' creation? 'Sabers meet once more with a hissing spark and Obi-Wan only just manages to scramble back to his feet, trying desperately to remember his training. Balance, symmetry, grace, poise. Trying to remember anything which could help him defeat the Sith Lord. He couldn't think, couldn't concentrate on anything but...

Anakin, he needed Anakin.

But hadn't Obi-Wan failed Anakin when he needed him?

A sound almost akin to a whimper falls from his lips as his mind flashes back to what it can remember: the good days. The bright, shining boy he had loved with his whole heart. The one he would trust with his life, the one who would never let him down. He missed him. He missed him to the point of unspeakable agony. When Obi-Wan lost Anakin, it felt like half of his very soul had died. An impossible nightmare played out on a security holovid - a nightmare he had refused to believe even as it shamed through their bond until he had seen the evidence before him. Through their bond now, he could sense nothing more than Vader's darkness and hatred. How he wanted to sever the bond, to free himself of this wretched beast! Perhaps then he could strike down the monster which bore his friend's face as a mask. Was Vader even aware of the bond between them? Or was the guttural hatred enough to override such sensitivity?

Then, only for a moment - hidden somewhere deep within the Dark - a gentle warmth fills the Jedi. Like a light in the foggiest of nights. Anakin. He could sense Anakin.

The realisation makes him pause for a second, eyes widening slightly with a soft gasp. In an instant, the world shifted around him and his head raised once more with a sudden resolve shining in azure hues. Anakin was still alive. He could be saved. Obi-Wan just needed to break through the steely exterior of the Sith and bring him back. The thought is almost enough to make him smile until the plan finally clicks into place in his mind; all components slotting together like the perfect deadly machine. What could bring Anakin back now? What could... apart from a shock so great it pulled him back. He could only hope that Anakin had loved him, as much as he had loved Anakin.

Breathing suddenly slows, heart no longer racing. Peace. He could save Anakin. All it would take was... Obi-Wan's death. Hadn't he always thought he would die in battle, fighting for some great cause? What greater cause was there than dying for his best friend?

One moment. Two moments.

Lightsaber extinguishes, moving his hands out in the gesture of surrender. Time seems to slow around them, grinding to a halt as Vader adjusts his stance and moves in for the killing blow. 'Saber poised to stab just under his ribs, running up through delicate matter and out almost by his shoulder. There would be no chance of survival, the Sith couldn't allow the Jedi to get away.

One second. Two seconds.

A flash of pain swallowed in a second by adrenaline flooding his system, breath catching as his lungs feel the searing shaft of the lighted blade. Eyes all too innocent and open at the thought of death, no regretful life flashing before him. Time drags on as though frozen somehow in the lava flowing around them, and he glances to the sky. Asking the Force if his plan had worked, if he did the right thing... if this would save Anakin. The stars twinkle back without an answer, but beautiful nonetheless... strange how until now he had never appreciated them so much.

❛ Obi-Wan! ❜

Body numbs and his legs give out beneath him, expecting to crumple on the rocky face of their battleground. Resigning himself to death without even knowing if it had all been in vain. He was ready, he supposed. After the War, after watching so many die before him... he was ready to join them. As Yoda had said, their bodies were merely temporary vessels. He would live on through the remaining Jedi - however few or many there may be left. His memory would be his immortality. However, instead of stone, he feels gentle arms wrap around him as he falls to the ground. Pulling him closer, impossibly close. Something wet? Blood?

Tears.

Anakin.

Hazy eyes meet those of his old friend, and he can't help but smile. He loved those eyes, the colour of the Tatooine sky. Shaking hand reaches up to caress scarred cheek, fingers barely brushing Anakin's skin before the exertion proves too much and hand falls back to his side. Force. Why did dying have to be such an effort? As though in punishment for the silent comment he coughs, and the jolt of it all causes him to groan. A dull, aching pain starting to push through the adrenaline.

❛ Anakin, ❜ he manages to say as eyes start to close, drifting off into an eternal sleep. Speech is hard, words hang heavily in his mouth and lips refuse to move properly. So, instead, he pushes everything he has left into their bond. All of their memories, all of the good times and the bad. The best times of his life, and the ones he would cherish in this shortened life and beyond. The memories were Anakin's now, along with all the love he felt for the boy. Both of them to do with as he wished. To accept or discard... ❛ Anakin, I'm so proud of you for... fighting back. I... love you. ❜

▸▸ I’VE BEEN SLOWLY MAKING THIS FOR OVER THREE WEEKS NOW. THREE WEEKS

Vader is close, a pressure shifting around him as though the villain were there with him in the small hanger. The sense of intimidating gaze through noir helmet - the sound of a breath - and Obi-Wan’s head jerks up, staring at a figure not quite there. Kenobi’s mouth opens as though to speak, yet no words pass. There is nothing to say, there never is. The proximity brings a new edge to the omnipresent pain radiating through him, and he scratches at an already tense shoulder. Not his pain, but Vader’s. A sharpened breath the only indication he gives of his plight, squeezing his eyes shut to steady himself against the lurch of agonising nausea.

❛ Master Kenobi, are you alright? ❜ a concerned voice asks, although it seemed the young rebel may have been far underwater. The voice gargled, hard to hear over the ringing in his ears. Pain, suffering, hatred. Forcing himself to smile despite closed eyes, he gives the excuse:

❛ I’m meditating, you might benefit from meditating yourself every once in a while, ❜ this was his punishment. For no one else to share; for no one else to know. He had failed Anakin Skywalker, and he would carry that with him for the rest of his life. Burning, burning, constant burning. 

Mind flashes back to lava and heat. Sent on a mission he never wished to complete. Staring at his old Padawan - his best friend, his everything - and realising that he could no longer see Anakin amongst the Darkness. He’d been too late, too ignorant. He wanted to cry, to break down and give in. To let the Sith kill him and be free of the pain. Yet his duty stood above, and he knew he must live to pass on what must be done. Anakin would never have given in; he would have fought to the bitter end. And so must he.

Could he not have turned back time? Done it all again. Been a better teacher, a better Master, a better friend? Grip slackening on ‘saber, exhaustion setting in. The beast which wore Anakin’s face also fought like Anakin, and every trick and trap had been laid down by them in prior decades. They had learned by each other’s hand. Two brothers-in-arms who were never supposed to turn on each other.

❛ Master, are you sure you’re fine? ❜

Earlier years and joking; laughter. Constant bickering like brothers, the camaraderie of best friends. A team - one of the best there ever was. Completely in sync, in tune. A code for every occasion. That smile he loved - that smile of home - even if it was just to tease his old Master. The boy he was proud of, who continued to impress him with each passing day. The one he was sure would become the greatest Jedi of them all. Anakin will not let me down. He never has. Anakin lived on inside Obi-Wan’s mind and heart, and he knew he would see him again. Have the chance to apologise, to beg for forgiveness. To smile, and hug, and laugh like old times. 

The Jedi Code: Obi-Wan’s lifeline. Each word sacred, each syllable purpose. Without it he was nothing. Darkness was like a poison; slow-acting yet all-consuming. He had felt the tendrils wrap around his throat when he saw Anakin tortured, promising him in sweet whispers that Kenobi could save the boy he loved... he just had to give in to the Dark. Blinding rage, feeling the Force quake around him as he bends nature to his will. Pulling Vader’s ‘saber to his hand, the crimson red ignited as the Dark promises him all the Light had warned against. Power. Absolute power. Striking Sidious down; making the Dark Lord suffer a long and withering death. For all the pain he had brought Anakin; for all the years of slavery and torture. The boy he should have trained, who he should have protected. In his attack, he is little more than an animal falling back into a style of combat he had not used since his days at the Temple... Juyo. How he had snarled, frothing at the mouth as all decorum and civility was thrown away. The man who remained was not Obi-Wan Kenobi, but something far more terrifying.

Even now he feels his eyes burn with the molten of a Sith, the Light battling the wash the Darkness from him and losing. The mantra which had once granted him solace plays on repeat in his mind, now punctuated with accusatory questions. He felt weak and empty; legs barely holding them as he helps Anakin back to his ship. Home. 

There is no emotion, there is peace. What peace was there to be found in watching the man he loved tortured before his eyes? To hear his screams of pain? Was he expected to just sit back and lose someone else? He had enough of peace. Peace for all those around him - for the crumbling Republic and Jedi Order - but never peace for him. Had Yoda not once said his rage would be his downfall? Rage had been his saviour.  

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Power still sparked in the air around him, making him feel all the more alive. He had brought down Darth Sidious; he had destroyed the tyrant. It was at his hand the Sith had died. Since when had the Light granted him such power? He had stood before the cloaked figure and felt as though he could shift the universe to his will with a single command. The air had stilled, the ground had shaken: the Force had waited with bated breath for his desire. Ignorance had led him to believe he was nothing special; not worth being trained as a Jedi. Oh, how wrong the Order had been about him.

There is no passion, there is serenity. Then what of this love he felt? The way the Force had connected them together? How he had first looked upon Anakin and knew he had loved him, did love him, would always love him. The memories of a past life which had flashed before him, the visions of a future in Anakin’s gentle blue eyes. How even now he reached out to stroke the boy’s cheek to caress those beautiful dimples, fingers gently wiping the blood from cracked lips. His heart ached for Anakin. To be with him, to never leave his side again.

❛ You’re free. You’re finally free,” he echoes in dulcet tones, tilting Anakin’s face down to rest their foreheads together. Embracing their bond and letting the darkness flood him once more. How sweet and gentle it seemed coming from Anakin; how freeing. Fingers twirl in the gentle curls of Skywalker’s hair, staring resolutely into his love’s eyes.

His interpretation of the vision had been wrong... it wasn’t the blue blade which was important. The Force hadn’t been trying to tell him to save Anakin from the Dark - he realised that now - it was telling him that no matter where they stood (Sith or Jedi) they would stand together.

There is no chaos, there is harmony. Well, on that one he could still agree. In the darkness, there was Anakin. His soulmate, his love. The one the Force had always wanted him to find. There was freedom. A chance to find himself. Despite the war raging inside him; he smiles. A warm, all-consuming smile. Had he ever smiled so freely? The weight of the Code, the Order, all of it was falling off him like discarded armour. Guards came crashing down and into their bond flowed everything. All of his thoughts, his fears, his joys, his tears, his memories, his heart and soul. They were Anakin’s to do with as he liked.

▸▸ MEME. @jedibetrayedGET ME - DRABBLE ABOUT OBI-WAN SAVING ANAKIN

Here’s an update on Obi-Wan and Anakin’s recent adventure to return the sacred amulet to its rightful place on the island of Alderaan: things weren’t looking too great. In fact, pretty much from the very first moment the duo had stepped foot onto the isle, their plan had spiralled drastically out of control. Palpatine’s henchman - as ever - seemed to be one step ahead of them. How on earth they had managed to figure out precisely what run-down, shabby hotel on the outskirts of Aldera the couple had decided to bed down in last minute was anybody’s guess, but the fact someone had figured out which room they were staying in and positioned their car to have a fantastic view of the woodworm-infested balcony and grease-smeared windows beyond was frankly astonishing.