Chapter Text
"...Cleared for landing, Oscar-Whiskey-Two-One-Two, welcome home Master Kenobi." The voice of tower control buzzed over his headset, causing his already heightened pulse to jump.
"Copy, cleared for landing. It's good to be back, Oscar-Whiskey-Two-One-Two." Obi-Wan gave the expected reply, keeping his gaze focused on the altitude readouts and approach plates on the display of his starfighter. It had been far too long since he had come to the new—no, not new, it hadn't been for many years—Temple on Lah'Mu.
The copper-haired Jedi flicked on the seldom-used windscreen wipers of his starfighter as he descended below cloud cover and into the cold, heavily misting rain that hung over the planet's surface.
Below, Obi-Wan could already feel dim sparks of gathered Force-users, bringing pricks of tears to his eyes at the thought of seeing his family in person after his long stint on the near-opposite side of the Outer Rim.
Following the approach lights that glowed bright against the dim greyness of Lah'Mu's geothermic climate, the ginger-haired Jedi guided the red and white starfighter to touch down on the tarmac. Obi-Wan buzzed with anticipation, nearly giddy with very un-Jedi-like excitement as he flicked his taxiing lights on to roll off the runway and into the hangar carved deeply into the side of a dead volcano that the Jedi Order's home now sat upon.
A small smile touched Obi-Wan's lips as he recognized the Force signature of the aircraft marshaller waving him into parking; a Force-sensitive youngling—now nearly a young adult—whom he and Qui-Gon had rescued from the Empire many years ago. While they were not strong enough in the Force to become a Knight, the Order would never turn away someone in need of help and instead gave them another, just as important job needed to run a temple completely independently.
Finally coming to a stop, the bearded Jedi flicked the parking brake on as R4 finished the shutdown sequence. Obi-Wan lifted the canopy and hopped nimbly out of the cockpit, his feet careful on the rain-slick metal of his starfighter's wings.
Feeling, more than seeing his approach, Obi-Wan turned with a smile to his late Master's old friend and Master of the Order, Master Windu.
"Mace, it's so good to see you," Obi-Wan greeted with a smile, gently brushing against the Korun's presence in the Force.
"Obi-Wan, it's good to see you. Please, let's get out of the cold and damp." Master Windu only gave him a tight, thin-lipped smile as he returned the greeting, clearly lacking the enthusiasm he would have hoped for from an old friend.
Anxiety and concern rippled through Obi-Wan's chest as the dark-skinned Jedi began to lead the younger man out of the hangar, stepping into a lift that would bring them to the upper levels of the temple.
"How was your... side trip?" The Master began conversationally. Obi-Wan recognized the stalling for what it was, but allowed it, still trying to maintain his grasp on his joy and relief of being home.
"I sometimes think the Force has a vendetta against me," Obi-Wan joked. "I hadn't meant to get captured while refueling, Master. How was I supposed to know there would be a local insurrection on that day in that particular part of the city?" The copper-haired Jedi continued humorously.
"They hardly expected me to be a Force-user, much less a Jedi. Of course, had civilians not been in danger, I wouldn't have been thrown in a cell in the first place. Nonetheless, escaping was fairly simple."
All the while, Mace nodded along distractedly, his gaze fixed stonily on the door of the lift. The only sign he gave to indicate he was listening was a quiet hum of acknowledgement.
"Mace? Is everything alright?" Obi-Wan asked quietly as they were let out on the top floor, his brows inching upwards ever so slightly. He had just flown ten hours straight in a cramped starfighter and had been looking forward to a real water shower (a rarity on the desert planet Tatooine) and crashing on an actual mattress. Instead, he was being ushered to the Council Chambers, a place he had only actually set foot in years ago when he took Anakin as his Padawan. Of course, Anakin hadn't been able to come—he had still been under Watto's control. Goodness, was that really so long ago? Nearly ten years, he should think.
Neglecting to respond to his question, Mace just kept his long strides, his face turning grim as the doors of the Council Chamber were opened. Obi-Wan trailed behind, his lungs feeling suddenly suffocated as he stopped in the center of the room to bow, as was customary. Something was going on, and Obi-Wan had a bad feeling that he wouldn't like whatever they had to say.
A spectrum of delight-happy-guilt-sorrow brushed against his shields from the various Council members (and a particularly solemn greeting from his Great-Grandmaster Yoda) coming to him in the Force.
When the silence seemed to stretch on uncomfortably, Obi-Wan breached the tension with a quiet "Masters?"
Master Windu, who had sat down in his chair, leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees and tent his fingers in front of his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but uncharacteristically paused, and nodded to Master Ti instead. The gentle Togruta stood and walked over to Obi-Wan to place a warm hand on the younger Jedi's shoulder, her face lined with sorrow.
Swallowing his skyrocketing anxiety, Obi-Wan did his best to exude an air of calm as her gentle eyes met his.
"While we are so glad to have you back in the temple," she began softly, "something's happened. You being here has potentially compromised our location to the Empire."
And that made Obi-Wan's mask of neutrality drop into an expression of concern and astonishment. He was risking the Temple? How? Just months ago, he was being hounded by his friends and colleagues to visit the main Temple—now that Anakin was able to take solo missions—allowing Obi-Wan the spare time to do so.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice coming out a bit more strangled with dread than he would have hoped.
Master Ti, one not to mince words or offer platitudes, merely shook her head slowly.
"Anakin has turned against us."
Obi-Wan made a punched-out noise of desperate disbelief, but it and his racing thoughts did not slow the cascade of information, each sentence more horrifying than the last.
"He missed his check-ins with us, so a Shadow was sent to look in on him. They reported that Padawan Skywalker had gone with the Senator of Naboo into the core worlds—" Obi-Wan sucked in a sharp breath in fear for his Padawan in enemy territory—"and the Shadow went after him to try and pull him out before he got caught by the Empire. We... were told by their Padawan that he felt their training bond snap and that he had received a bond-feedback vision of his Master's death." Obi-Wan shook his head, eyes wide, but the Togruta continued gently but firmly:
"It was Anakin who killed them, Obi-Wan."
"No-" Obi-Wan choked out, his stomach churning with revulsion. Anakin—his Padawan, his brother—had Fallen? Had killed another Jedi? And the poor Shadow's Padawan. Obi-Wan, as numb as he was in the face of this news, felt grief for the young Jedi. He, too, had experienced that type of bond backlash when Qui-Gon had been speared in the heart by a burning red lightsaber ten years ago.
Obi-Wan's mind brought up the last conversation he had with Anakin, unbidden.
"Master! I finally got a Mid Rim assignment!" Anakin proclaimed proudly, a grin flashing over his face at the prospect of getting a 'real mission against the Empire' and not an 'outer rim milk run' mission, as the Padawan called them.
Obi-Wan had jumped slightly, surprised at Anakin's sudden willingness to speak to him after their most recent argument that had left his Padawan particularly reticent. Turning to face the lanky blonde, the ginger-haired Jedi swallowed his knee-jerk reaction of concern and fear for his Padawan venturing so close to true Empire space to paste an encouraging smile on.
"Sounds like a challenge. You'll return in one piece this time, I hope?" Obi-Wan had teased, referencing Anakin's previous misfortune on his last mission that led to his ship crashing and his arm being crushed, unable to be saved below the elbow.
Anakin just rolled his eyes and flicked a rude gesture at his Master with his gloved cybernetic hand, already heading towards the door of their little hut in the Jundland Wastes.
"Obviously. See ya, old man."
Obi-Wan stared at Master Ti, silent tears tracking their way down his cheeks as he hung his head.
Yet, the Togruta Jedi Master stayed quiet, keeping her hand on his shoulder to ground him as Obi-Wan reflexively tried to reach through the Force to his Padawan.
Obi-Wan had known for a while that their bond had been fraying, that he and Anakin had become increasingly at odds with each other as the years went by, but he still couldn't help but feel a stab of shock and a welling anguish at the tattered and absolutely Dark bond between them.
And he hadn't even noticed. What did that say about Obi-Wan? He had completely failed to feel the shift in Anakin's presence on the other side.
A traitorous voice whispered in the back of his mind, saying that it must've been a gradual shift to the dark and that Obi-Wan had failed to notice his Padawan's—his brother's slipping to the Dark.
Obi-Wan realized, then, what the other Masters had figured out as soon as he had walked in. Of course they would be able to feel the Dark tether of their bond, of course they would know that Obi-Wan himself was a liability. There were stories, after all, of bonded Jedi who Fell one after the other due to their attachments and Obi-Wan had always struggled with such a thing.
Finally, Master Windu spoke up, though Obi-Wan kept his gaze locked on a random point on the floor.
"Had your bond been broken, this would be a very different conversation," the Master of the Order sighed, his brow pinching together into a severe grimace.
"But seeing as Skywalker has chosen to maintain it, he may try to use it against you—or us." The Korun finished.
Obi-Wan could only stare in horror at Master Windu as he pieced together what was left unsaid. Not only was he a potential to Fall, but he was also leading Anakin, and potentially by proxy the elusive Sith Master, to the Jedi's doorstep.
"Why- why in the name of the Force would you even allow me to return? I'm putting everyone here in danger!" The ginger-haired Jedi gasped out, his wide-eyed gaze flicking between the various seated members of the High Council.
"Because Skywalker has never been here before, we deemed it safe enough for one last trip," came the answer, with some disgruntlement from a select few members coming in light waves, those in obvious disagreement with the decision.
"I see," Obi-Wan rasped out, his throat tightening and his vision blurring at the thought of his future banishment from the Temple, and ostensibly the Jedi Order. After all, who would trust him with the future of their Order, with another Padawan, when he failed so miserably with Anakin?
"We're giving you three days to rest and refuel, but we have to ask that you take off again. You can of course comm as normal, though I would recommend going to ground for a while and getting an upgraded encryption before attempting it."