2 weeks later
Anakin's POV
It had been quiet after Obi-wan's death, the Council had given me 2 weeks off after his funeral. People were watching my every move waiting for me to burst out and leave the Jedi Order or something dramatic but that didn't happen. When I reached out with the force through our force bond it was empty and silent like the one with Qui Gon's was and when I went further I was stopped by heavy shields. I tried to get past them but they were incredibly strong, I didn't think when you died your shields would still be up. I also noticed Yoda and Windu keeping an extra close eye on me, well, Windu always kept a close eye on me because he hated me and wanting to catch me doing something against the order so he could expel me. Well, that's what I thought, I didn't know for certain but he certainly gave off that vibe around me and a little bit around Obi-wan.
Something was definitely going on, I knew Obi-wan wasn't dead but I couldn't prove it in any way and I didn't want to confront the two Jedi Masters on the topic. Then again there was that voice in the back of my mind telling me that Obi-wan was dead and I was just in a denial phase and Padme thought that as well when I told her how I didn't think Obi-wan was dead.
I frowned and sighed in frustration, Obi-wan has survived much worse than this before and the blast didn't even hit his heart, it was sort of around his shoulder area. His force presence didn't fade away like it was supposed to either when I reached out through the bond his presence was still there like always and it had been 3 weeks since he died.
After the murder of Agen Kolar, I remember his force presence fade rapidly until it had disappeared completely. I had only been 14 and I was on a mission with him and Obi-wan but something happened which made us split up, and I was with Agen Kolar, we were surrounded by a bounty hunters army sort of thing and they were all shooting at us. I only just managed to block some of the bullets but Agen was shot down, that was the first death I had experienced and I freaked out and the force blew all of the people away and their guns went flying even further than them. I remembered kneeling down beside the Jedi Knight that I didn't even know too well, he told me to go and find Obi-wan and run, I tried to argue but he said death was a natural cause and it was a common part of a Jedi's life, he told me I had to move on and not look back. It was one of the greatest lessons I've learned in life and with the clone wars millions of people were dying. If I heard the news of a Jedi Master or Knight that had died I'd pay my respects like all the other Jedi and keep moving, some Jedi Masters took every death harshly and most of the other knights took deaths harshly. Turns out not many people had the same lesson I had when Agen was dying in front of me.
There were deaths that I took harshly, like the death of half my clone squadron and the death of my mother. Those were my fault and it was hard to get over those deaths knowing that's it's my fault but that was apart of war and it didn't stop or slow down for anyone.
Palpatine had called me into his office and expressed his deepest condolences for Obi-wan's death and he talked about how Jedi should be allowed to get revenge if the person deserved it and I found out Palpatine didn't like most of the Jedi Code and most of the things he didn't like were the same things as me. I didn't stay long in the Chancellor's office because I needed to distract myself before I began overthinking the Jedi Order and Obi-wan's death.
I was sitting in my cold, empty apartment with the blinds still drawn shut. I don't think I've opened the blinds in years since I was never in the apartment.
My comm finally beeped and I answered it straight away standing up ready for an assignment or anything to distract myself from the thoughts building up.
"Dooku and Grievous have escaped, we need you at the main exit to guard that," Windu explained quickly.
"On it," I replied.
I ended the short transmission and ran out of my apartment, elevators were too slow so I opened the door to the stairs and jumped down the middle. I used the force to slow my fall as I reached the bottom and I shoved open the door and sprinted towards the main entrance/exit, the same place where Ahsoka had left almost two years ago. I briefly reminded myself that Ahsoka was back now and she was just on a mission but I quickly dismissed those thoughts as I saw Grevious run out the doors. I force jumped towards him ignited my lightsaber in the air, Grievous turned around and ignited four lightsabers that he had probably stolen, two of them were yellow which means he had stolen them from the Jedi Guards.
I immediately began pushing him back and we were locked in a fast and deadly lightsaber battle, all my anger and grief from Obi-wan's death was going into this fight.
"I was wondering when I'd see you again, Skywalker," Grievous snarled.
"The only thing you're going to see for the rest of your life is either blackness or four walls of your cell," I growled.
I saw Grievous' gaze shift past me and I flipped over Grievous to see what he was looking at, I saw Dooku running towards the East Hanger and no one was chasing him. Grievous caught me looking and yelled in fury and began pushing me back, I managed to force push him away and I quickly contacted Windu and told him where Dooku was heading. I ended the transmission as Grievous jumped at me again, I blocked his blow and his four blades were pushing down on mine in a lightsaber hold. He took one blade away and tried to stab me, I jumped back and struggled to hold my balance, Grievous used that to his advantage and kicked me in the stomach. I went flying back and landed on the hard concrete, my lightsaber went flying out of my hand as I landed. Grievous cackled and leapt up in the air with his four lightsabers swinging around dangerously. I reached out for my lightsaber that was just out of my reach as Grievous fell towards me, I grabbed it and immediately ignited it. I closed my eyes and braced for the pain but it never came, Grievous' cackle died and I opened my eyes. My blade went through Grievous' chest and his other four lightsabers had fallen on the ground next to me, Grievous' eyes rolled to the back of his head and I kicked him off me and to the side.
I pushed myself to my feet and caught my breath and tried to slow down my wild heartbeat, I couldn't believe my luck and how close I came to death. Things could have very easily turned out very differently and I was in a state of shock, I had a few close calls with death before but those times I had a weapon and so did the other person. But this time I had been defenceless and Grievous was less than a second away from killing me, I walked over to Grievous' dead body and pulled my dark blue lightsaber out of his body as I heard footsteps come closer.
"Are you alright, Skywalker?" Kit Fisto asking as he appeared with other Jedi Knights.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.
"I saw it happen from the elevator window, that was quite a close call," he remarked.
"Tell me about it," I muttered.
I looked at the dead body once again and almost didn't believe that he was dead, but unlike Obi-wan, I felt his force presence drain away only adding to my theory that Obi-wan wasn't dead. The Jedi Knights used the force to lift up the body and they walked away with the body still levitating in the air, Kit Fisto clapped me on the shoulder and I met his gaze. I hadn't talked to the Jedi Master since I was a Padawan, the last time I had talked to him was probably when I was 15 or 16. He was especially kind to me when I first arrived at the Temple and since he was on the Council he immediately agreed for me to be allowed to train. After I saved his apprentice when I was 13 he talked to me a lot more but as I got older Obi-wan and I went on more missions and didn't see the Jedi Master much.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.
"Y-Yeah," I nodded, "Did Dooku escape?"
"I'm afraid so, but we already have Jedi Knights following his lead and tracking the ship," he said.
I nodded and we walked back inside the Temple, I kept thinking about Grievous' dark force signature fading away rapidly and when I thought back to Obi-wan's death his force signature just became muted slightly.
"I haven't had the chance to talk to you in a while. My deepest condolences about Master Kenobi, losing your Master is hard on every former Padawan," Kit Fisto said gravely.
"Thank you," I said nodding my head in respect.
"Skywalker!" Windu called walking towards me, "Did Grievous escape?"
"No, Grievous is dead," I replied in a monotone voice.
Windu kind of glared at me and I determinedly stared right back.
"It was purely self-defence Master Windu, is he didn't kill Grievous then he would've died," Kit Fisto said coming to my defence.
Windu looked away from me and his glare softened slightly.
"Very well, c'mon Skywalker, we must inform Master Yoda of what happened," Windu said.
I nodded to Kit Fisto thanking him and then followed Windu into the elevator, the doors closed and we both stood in silence as we went up a few floors to Yoda's apartment. Windu knocked at the doors slid open, we both stood in front of Yoda who broke out of his meditation state.
"Evening, Master Windu, Young Skywalker," Yoda greeted.
"I'm afraid we come with bad news," Windu began, "Count Dooku and General Grievous escaped, we tried to stop them but Count Dooku escaped and Grievous is dead,"
"Hmm, someone working on the inside there is, careful we must be," Yoda said.
"We have people following and tracking Dooku's ship but I doubt they'll be able to keep it up for long," Windu continued.
"Wait and see, we must, nothing we can do. Contact, Padawan Tano, we must, warn her you will," Yoda commanded to Windu.
Windu nodded and left the room and I turned to leave as well.
"Stay, Young Skywalker," Yoda called.
I stopped as the doors slid shut behind Windu and turned around facing the old but wise Jedi Master.
"Troubled, you are, bothering you, something is," Yoda stated.
"Oh, it's nothing," I hastily said.
Yoda whacked my shin with his walking stick and I leapt away holding my shin and rubbing the sore spot that was going to bruise later on. Yoda laughed and walking towards his chair and jumped on it, sitting cross-legged.
"A troublesome, student, you were, learned your lesson, I would have thought," Yoda said.
I grumbled and muttered something under my breath.
"Lying to me, a mistake it is, see the truth, I can. Bothering you, something is, correct?"
"Yes," I replied.
Yoda waited for me to continue and I had an argument inside my head debating whether to tell the small Jedi Master what I was thinking. If it turns out that it's true then I wouldn't know what to think but if it isn't true then I'll probably get a long lecture from Yoda about letting go. I took a deep breath and looked at the Jedi Master who was waiting patiently.
"I think Obi-wan's alive," I said slowly.
I held my breath and looked at the Jedi Master who's face had fallen slightly and became serious.
"His force presence didn't fade away as others did and our force bond isn't empty like the one with Qui Gon's is," I continued.
Yoda nodded his head and wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Alive, Kenobi is, undercover as Hardeen, he is, kept the truth from you we did, believable, we wanted to make it," Yoda admitted.
"So, Obi-wan never actually died?" I asked.
"No, faked, all of it was,"
I kept a blank face but on the inside, I was screaming, I didn't know how to react right now. A part of my mind kept thinking that I was just making things up and that Obi-wan was actually dead but now that Yoda confirmed that Obi-wan faked his death in front of me to go undercover it felt like a dream.
"Right," I replied still trying to process everything.
"Tell no one, a secret it must be kept, find out, you were not supposed too,"
"Yes Master," I said.
Yoda nodded and stared at me for a few seconds before frowning slightly and then looking away.
"You may go now, Young Skywalker," he said.
I nodded my head slightly and then left the room, the doors slid shut behind me and I made my way down to my apartment. I slammed the door behind me and sat down on the edge of my couch running my hands through my hair. I had mixed emotions, obviously, I was glad that Obi-wan was alive but then angry at him that he'd use my trust to make his death believable and he let me grieve for him even though he wasn't even dead. How could Obi-wan just use me like that and not tell me what's going on?
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down but a storm was brewing inside me and I wanted to scream in frustration and anger. I gripped my lightsaber in my hand and got up and went down into the training room, I closed the door behind me and pressed the button for some battle droids to descend. I immediately began knocking their bolts back towards them and crushing them with the force. I did wave after wave letting all my frustration and anger out on the droids until the floor was completely covered with droid parts and blasters, I pressed the red button and the floor opened up and all the droid parts disappeared into the blackness beneath. The floor folded back up and I sighed before leaving the training room.
When I was a Padawan a Jedi Master I was training with told me that trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair. I didn't really understand it back then but after Ahsoka leaving and Obi-wan faking his death in front of me I finally understood it.