Everything around Obi-Wan slowed in that last moment, frozen in the instant before ruin. In that moment, Obi-Wan could see and feel the truth of everything.
He saw Anakin, the boy he had trained, the boy he had guided, the boy he had loved like no other, and suddenly, he understood an unbearable truth with crystal clarity.
Not in teaching him to fight. Not in training him to be strong. But in being the master he needed.
Qui-Gon would have known. Qui-Gon would have seen the boy for what he was; not just the Chosen One, not just the strongest Jedi warrior of his generation, but a child who needed love. Qui-Gon would have never held him at arm’s length, never let duty and tradition stifle what should have been affection, trust, unconditional belief.
Obi-Wan had done his best, but now, in this one final moment, he realized with a deep, aching sorrow that his best had not been enough.
He should have been kinder. He should have told Anakin he was proud of him, that he was grateful for him, and that despite all the arguments, all the misunderstandings, all the struggles, he was never disappointed in him. Because he wasn’t. Even now, as the world came crashing down around them, Obi-Wan could see the man Anakin had become. He was brilliant, and there had never been another Jedi like him. There never would be again.
With all the strength left in him, Obi-Wan reached out.
Not with his hand, for his arms were already pinned and of no use to him now, but through the Force, through the connection that bound them together in a way no Jedi doctrine could ever sever. He poured everything into that connection—his pride, his love, his regret, his hope.
He hoped that this loss would not destroy him. He knew that Anakin would surely grieve but hoped that he would not lose himself to that grief. He hoped that he would rise and carry onward and remember him not as the master who failed him, but as the brother who loved him.
Across the room, still in that one final moment, Anakin’s blue eyes turned toward Obi-Wan. And for a moment, just a moment, time was nothing.
The fear on Anakin’s face was raw, and his lips parted, his expression caught between panic and devastation, but Obi-Wan could see beneath it. Anakin felt him, and he understood.
Dust and ruin rained down, but Obi-Wan managed one final breath for one final truth, pushing it past the literal and figurative weight crashing down on his chest. A truth he had never spoken but had always been there.
"You are my brother, Anakin... I love you."
Then the moment passed, and the world went dark.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/62217205/chapters/159160693
titsay
theartofmadeline
jbbartram-illu
turnnoffyourmind