Between Life and Death // A Gray Jedi's Legacy Sequel

Chapter 5 // One Step Closer

Hello everyone! Sorry for my absence, I've been working on something else recently. This chapter is a tad short, but I'm pretty sure that the next one will be a little longer.

"Anakin, are you alright? You've been acting strangely recently," Obi-Wan commented as the stepped back from their parring. Both were thirsty and out of breath, so they silently agreed to power off the training sabers and take a break.

    "I'm fine," Anakin replied, though it wasn't very convincing. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow and waited for his former padawan to explain further, but no more words came out of his mouth.

    "No, you're not," Obi-Wan argued. "You've been slipping up nearly twice a minute over our last practices and letting me win. Don't tell me it's about Exegol either, because you were practicing just fine the other day."

    "Seriously, nothing's wrong," Anakin insisted, moving to get up and head back to the cockpit. However, Obi-Wan wasn't contempt with this answer, so he used the Force to drag Anakin's butt back down and onto the bench.

    "I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what is going on. Last time you kept all your drama to yourself you almost turned to the Dark Side."

    Anakin opened his mouth to argue with the Jedi Master, but he eventually ended up closing it. He did have a point. He had gotten dangerously close to the Dark Side of the Force before Palpatine had been exposed to the public as a Sith Lord.

    "It's just..." Anakin wandered off as he tried to find the words to say. "It's Ahsoka."

    "I know you miss her," Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder, "we all do. But you have to let her go. She's gone, Anakin."

    "I understand," the Jedi Master countered, "I just feel her presence."

    "She did spend many years here, so there's bound to be some residue from her Force signature. She'll always be with us, you know that right?"

    "It isn't like that," Anakin argued. "I mean, I feel her. I can sense her signature. All of it. I think she's alive, Obi-Wan."

    "Don't be ridiculous," Obi-Wan scolded. "If she didn't die from the entire planet collapsing, then she would've died from lack of oxygen. Don't let your imagination run wild, Anakin. I'm sure you're just hallucinating."

    "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Anakin cried out in frustration as he jumped up from the bench. He spun around and glared at Obi-Wan. "I'm not 'hallucinating'. I can feel her! Especially the day that her lightsabers were stolen. I wouldn't be surprised if it was her that took them!"

    "If that was her, then why wouldn't she come back to the Temple completely? Something sounds off in that scenario," Obi-Wan calmly pointed out.

    "Don't think for a hot second that I haven't been thinking about that this entire time," Anakin growled, but Obi-Wan could hear the soft pain in his voice. "Do you know what all those voices tell me? They're constantly saying that Ahsoka hates us now. She gave up on us. We're so stuck in our stupid code that not even her sacrifice could save us! Don't you see it, Obi-Wan? She's moved on from us."

    Obi-Wan let the words that Anakin had practically shouted at him sink in. He did have a point, but the Jedi Master refused to go along with that idea. "Okay," Obi-Wan relented. "Let's venture to say that it really was Ahsoka who took the lightsabers. I know she isn't the kind of person that would leave us in the dark without a reason. I know that you know that. Maybe she's chasing Sith or some dangerous plot?"

    "So you admit it? She really might be alive?" Anakin questioned with his eyes slightly more bright. Obi-Wan wanted to tell him that he still believed it was quite literally impossible for the deceased Jedi to be alive, but he couldn't take away the little light that the man had.