The Chosen Apprentice/Chapter 33

In the Stel-Ardak household the HoloNet News was playing from the holoprojector yet only Arrin was paying attention to it. The boy sat cross-legged on a rug at a rather close distance near it, his dark eyes enthralled by what he saw.

“And that concludes out report on the trial of Nute Gunray,” the Twi’lek reporter said. “Tomorrow Jedi Anakin Skywalker is said to take the stand. Until then, this is Celune Piar wishing the best of evenings.”

“You’re too close to that,” Shinai gently reprimanded, pulling the rug back to a reasonable distance with Arrin still sitting on it.

“Dad, who’s Anakin Skywalker?”

Shinai did not intend to react to the sound of this name, but he did and Arrin noticed this.

“Who is he, Dad?” Arrin asked. “He’s a Jedi, isn’t he?”

“I knew him,” Shinai replied in a tight voice.

“You did?” Arrin’s eyes lit up. “What was he like?”

“He hurt me,” Shinai lied, stroking the since healed wound on his chest. “Don’t believe what they tell you, he’s not nice.”

“But I thought—”

“You’ve been watching that too long,” Shinai interrupted, grabbing the remote and switching it off.

“But Daa-aad!” Arrin whined.

“You heard me,” Shinai told him, “you spend too much time in front of that thing anyway. Go to your room.”

Sulkily, Arrin trotted off.

Obi-Wan found Anakin in one of the training rooms. The Jedi stood in the middle of the floor, his eyes closed as he avoided the blasts of the eleven remote droids that circled him, deflecting the blaster bolts with his lightsaber. While the number of them may have seemed like overkill, Obi-Wan had never known Anakin to do anything by halves.

When the timer was up and the remote droids floated to the floor, Anakin opened his eyes and looked at Obi-Wan.

“I was hoping that you would go,” Anakin said, glaring at him.

“And miss the show you put on?” Obi-Wan teased. “You underestimate me.”

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and wiped away the sweat that had built up on the back of his neck. He clearly was not going to speak, so Obi-Wan decided to make the next move.

“How was the trial?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Ask someone who was there,” Anakin replied shortly. “I wasn't, I waited outside.”

This not surprise Obi-Wan in the least. He decided to get to the point.

“Anakin, about this morning—”

“No need to explain, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said, replacing the remote droids on the rack on the wall. “You were concerned, worried, about the way I had been feeling, acting, thinking, looking.” He looked at his former Master. “You know I've got so used to your explanations that I can call them before you even start to say them.” Anakin turned his back on him and put the rest of the remote droids on the rack as Obi-Wan considered his next words.

“I meant what I said,” he told Anakin in a rather cautious tone of voice. “And I know you, Anakin. I know that the moment you come up against anything difficult you go completely in the other direction.”

“What is it to you?” Anakin asked icily. “The trial will be over soon, and then I’ll go back to doing missions, that’s something I’m good at.” He started to head out of the room.

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Obi-Wan murmured.

“What?” Anakin’s eyes could have penetrated durasteel. “You wouldn’t…you couldn’t…”

“Hold you here against your will?” Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest, his expression unmovable. “Don’t think I won’t if I have to.”

“Fine then, I don’t need this!” Anakin walked from the room.

Obi-Wan followed him. “Anakin, where are you going?”

“Away from you.” He did not look back. “Anywhere else is better than you constantly being at my elbow, than the Council telling me what to do…I don’t…I don’t care!”

“You care more than your realise.” Obi-Wan burst forward and caught Anakin by the arm. “If you didn’t care, you and I would not be having this conversation.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anakin growled, trying to free himself from Obi-Wan’s grip. It was too strong.

“Anakin, I might not understand what you have been through and I probably never will.” His voice was soft and melodious, the sound lulled Anakin’s anger. “But don’t think I haven’t noticed what it’s done to you. Sometimes,” he muttered wistfully, “sometimes I wonder what happened to the friend that I once had.”

“He’s dead,” Anakin said with a frown. “Three years ago, in Palpatine’s office. Everything else since then has been a trick.”

“Not true,” Obi-Wan disagreed. “The only one you’ve tricked is yourself; I’ve never been fooled for a second.”

“Like you said, you know me too well.” Anakin’s voice sounded flat and defeated, he prised Obi-Wan’s hand from his arm and this time Obi-Wan let him go.

“Sometimes I wonder if I do,” Obi-Wan muttered as he watched Anakin’s retreating form.