By My Side

Chapter 8 - Admissions

He has to find the best, fastest way to end the war. Everything he does could irreparably alter the knowledge he has of the future, and he must be cautious. After all, what's better than knowing your enemies' strategies and plans before they happen? He needs to get down everything he knows, if worst comes to worst. He doubts it'll be necessary, but knowing his luck, it might. It's not as though he can't die. That he can take care of in more detail later. It's attempting to refresh his memory on the early battles that he needs to do now. Mainly, where the top Separatists were in certain battles.

The next major battle that is engrained in his mind forever is the Malevolence. Grievous was there; Obi-Wan fought him. And the listening post, Grievous was there, too. Anakin vows not to risk losing Artoo like that again. The droid was a friend, and he was Padme's gift. That entire scenario is not something he wanted to remember at the time, especially given Obi-Wan's reaction, but now he wishes he remembered it better.

They've captured Ventress already, and a mildly worried part of Anakin wonders if that was the best choice. After all, it's... a very, very major divergence, and events may play out quite differently as a result.

And Dooku he shouldn't see again until... He lets out an audible groan. Hondo. No, thanks. Anakin never, ever wants to see that pirate again. He definitely doesn't want to get stuck so close to the Sith like that, but if he doesn't drink... Well, Obi-Wan would probably try to make him, but he'll politely decline that order.

He doesn't want to allow the war to drag on more than a few months, if even. If it were up to him, he'd go end it now, but he can't. Now that he thinks about it, it may not be a bad idea for him to make sure Ahsoka is with Obi-Wan while they are searching for the Malevolence so after destroying the cannons Anakin can go right on the ship – even if he goes alone – and destroy it with Grievous aboard.

If they do have to deal with that listening post, they'll have Artoo, and Anakin will be the one leading the mission, though he'd rather not get in a one-on-one battle with the cyborg unless there's no other option. If they get Dooku from Hondo, the Council will deal with him.

And then there's the other Sith Dooku was talking about, who Anakin still isn't certain exists. That's something he'll have to search into more. Other than Dooku's word, they have no proof whatsoever of his existence.

It all seems so easy, though Anakin knows it'll take time and much more planning than he can do right now. He'll have to improvise, and the hardest part is that he'll have to do it alone. He can't have anyone help him, and he has no intention of letting anyone know that he... time travelled. He can keep a secret, too, thank you very much, Obi-Wan. He can't help sending the Jedi Master a mental glare as he returns to his datapad, scribbling down the most important points of the war. Even now, he doubts anything will allow him to trust Obi-Wan again. He did before, and it didn't matter. It never did.

***

"How are you feeling?" Obi-Wan asks, standing just inside the doorway. After the cruiser exited hyperspace, he'd come to wake up Anakin so they could go down to the surface.

"Better," he answers slowly, almost hesitantly, as if he's unsure. He was half out of it when Obi-Wan arrived, though it's unlikely he was sleeping most of the time. He stands up hurriedly, all hints of tiredness completely disappearing. "I'm assuming you're here since we came out of hyperspace." When he nods in confirmation, Anakin heads for the door without a word.

After a moment of contemplation – Anakin will never talk to him around anyone else – Obi-Wan steps forwards and sets a hand on his shoulder before he can leave the room. "I told you before, but I am sorry about what happened to your mother, Anakin."