for Shades of Gray1/25 c10 
42Valairy Scot
Stay," Obi Wan repeated. Stay here, by my side, in the Temple, in the Order, in the Light. Don't ever leave. Just stay. You must. You don't understand.
-OH man, oh man...unfortunately, Anakin doesn't understand.
his black cloak billowing at his feet, a shadow frolicking at its master's heels.-Love that simile.
Ji Sho reminded him of a much younger Anakin, a confused and sometimes endearingly obtuse ex-slave trying to pretend he was a Jedi master, trying to live up to a title foisted upon him by unhappy fate and Qui Gon Jinn's premature announcement to the Council, trying to please and defy Obi Wan all at once, trying to simply…grow up. Faster than he should have. - Aww. A sweet moment in a not sweet story.
And Yoda - smacking down his favorite "youngling" and hating to be contradicted by someone less than 1/10 his age - priceless jewels.
But oh - this SHOULD be a TCW episode - the fracture lines are widening and the abyss drawing ever nearer.
42Valairy ScotStay," Obi Wan repeated. Stay here, by my side, in the Temple, in the Order, in the Light. Don't ever leave. Just stay. You must. You don't understand.
-OH man, oh man...unfortunately, Anakin doesn't understand.
his black cloak billowing at his feet, a shadow frolicking at its master's heels.-Love that simile.
Ji Sho reminded him of a much younger Anakin, a confused and sometimes endearingly obtuse ex-slave trying to pretend he was a Jedi master, trying to live up to a title foisted upon him by unhappy fate and Qui Gon Jinn's premature announcement to the Council, trying to please and defy Obi Wan all at once, trying to simply…grow up. Faster than he should have. - Aww. A sweet moment in a not sweet story.
And Yoda - smacking down his favorite "youngling" and hating to be contradicted by someone less than 1/10 his age - priceless jewels.
But oh - this SHOULD be a TCW episode - the fracture lines are widening and the abyss drawing ever nearer.
1/24 c9 Valairy Scot
Master!"
It couldn't be. He begged the Force not to let it be…but the Force was deaf to his pleas, eluding his grasp, turning its back on him, leaving him alone with this awful, unbidden truth..
"Obi Wan!"
The thing spoke with Anakin's voice. He looked up into the wraith's face, into the fire-ringed mask, the empty sockets, caverns of hate in which fire kindled darkly, and saw Anakin….Anakin's skull, streaked with clinging fragments of blood and charred flesh, crowned with an invisible halo of wrath, the lightless corona of the Dark. And that was when the Force abandoned him utterly, and his heart broke and he sobbed with boundless, feverish denial and terror.
The world sank beneath the tide of despair and melted into nothingness…and he welcomed its obliterating embrace.
Wow - just WOW! And then, this:
The Council was to blame. They had sent Obi Wan in here, on some perverse mission to save a wicked man from well-deserved death. They had used him, the way he had used Anakin. They sacrificed their own to save a kriffing murderer. In the name of peace and justice.
He hated…..them. It. Everything.
Master!"
It couldn't be. He begged the Force not to let it be…but the Force was deaf to his pleas, eluding his grasp, turning its back on him, leaving him alone with this awful, unbidden truth..
"Obi Wan!"
The thing spoke with Anakin's voice. He looked up into the wraith's face, into the fire-ringed mask, the empty sockets, caverns of hate in which fire kindled darkly, and saw Anakin….Anakin's skull, streaked with clinging fragments of blood and charred flesh, crowned with an invisible halo of wrath, the lightless corona of the Dark. And that was when the Force abandoned him utterly, and his heart broke and he sobbed with boundless, feverish denial and terror.
The world sank beneath the tide of despair and melted into nothingness…and he welcomed its obliterating embrace.
Wow - just WOW! And then, this:
The Council was to blame. They had sent Obi Wan in here, on some perverse mission to save a wicked man from well-deserved death. They had used him, the way he had used Anakin. They sacrificed their own to save a kriffing murderer. In the name of peace and justice.
He hated…..them. It. Everything.
1/24 c7 Valairy Scot
Methinks Obi-Wan is going to have some explaining to do - how he got in, sensed the grenade...and "reading minds" is not going to cut it.
Methinks Obi-Wan is going to have some explaining to do - how he got in, sensed the grenade...and "reading minds" is not going to cut it.
1/24 c2 Valairy Scot
He had sat in the circle of the Council and lied. Because of trust. Because of his lack of trust. He knew of Anakin's too-intimate friendship with the Chancellor, of the misplaced paternal feelings his former Padawan harbored for the man. He knew it better than anyone else, and he feared it. He also knew, because Dooku had told him, because the Force told him, that somehow, somewhere, the hidden Lord of the Sith had access to the Chancellor's office, to at least some of what passed therein. By what dark art that might have been affected or sustained, he knew not. But the fact of it was something he could not deny.
If he told Anakin, then Anakin might tell the Chancellor. And that inexplicable leak might pass it on to Dooku's ears. And that would have been an instant and incontrovertible death sentence, an end to the mission and a far worse tragedy for Anakin than the planned farce and mock-funeral had been. He knew this; he saw it with cold certainty. And yet he could not openly express the damning fact to the Council, for to do so would be to condemn Anakin. And that he would not do. Because Anakin trusted Palpatine too well, Obi Wan could not trust Anakin. He had chosen to let his friend suffer for a short time than risk making him the unwitting tool of a disastrous betrayal.
The Council had not made him do it. He had done it himself. And it had cost him a decade of hard-earned trust. That was the severe consequence, the retribution visited upon him, for lying. Lying out of dreadful fear for another. Out of attachment.
- Therein lies the tragedy, the consequences of trying to do "the right thing" when the alternative is to the "wrong thing."
Palpatine is an unmitigated snake. And Anakin is a gullible fool.
He had sat in the circle of the Council and lied. Because of trust. Because of his lack of trust. He knew of Anakin's too-intimate friendship with the Chancellor, of the misplaced paternal feelings his former Padawan harbored for the man. He knew it better than anyone else, and he feared it. He also knew, because Dooku had told him, because the Force told him, that somehow, somewhere, the hidden Lord of the Sith had access to the Chancellor's office, to at least some of what passed therein. By what dark art that might have been affected or sustained, he knew not. But the fact of it was something he could not deny.
If he told Anakin, then Anakin might tell the Chancellor. And that inexplicable leak might pass it on to Dooku's ears. And that would have been an instant and incontrovertible death sentence, an end to the mission and a far worse tragedy for Anakin than the planned farce and mock-funeral had been. He knew this; he saw it with cold certainty. And yet he could not openly express the damning fact to the Council, for to do so would be to condemn Anakin. And that he would not do. Because Anakin trusted Palpatine too well, Obi Wan could not trust Anakin. He had chosen to let his friend suffer for a short time than risk making him the unwitting tool of a disastrous betrayal.
The Council had not made him do it. He had done it himself. And it had cost him a decade of hard-earned trust. That was the severe consequence, the retribution visited upon him, for lying. Lying out of dreadful fear for another. Out of attachment.
- Therein lies the tragedy, the consequences of trying to do "the right thing" when the alternative is to the "wrong thing."
Palpatine is an unmitigated snake. And Anakin is a gullible fool.
1/24 c1 Valairy Scot
As he rose and made a formal bow, striding toward the door with the dignity of a …well, of a Jedi, Obi Wan suddenly looked a lot like his much younger self again. Anakin hadn't seen that expression on his face since the night the Council had told Qui Gon Jinn that the boy he had discovered on Tatooine would not be trained; the night when Qui Gon had been his champion and father figure, declaring that he would train Anakin although he already had a Padawan learner; the night Qui Gon had effectively dismissed his current apprentice with a few brief words of lukewarm praise.
It felt good to see Obi Wan stunned and betrayed. Go cry on Mace's shoulder, Anakin thought at his mentor's retreating back.
- Wow - Anakin is so disillusioned. Not without reason, but still - he seems to want to harbor these feelings, almost that he feels empowered and superior because negative or not, he has feelings.
_
The sun was setting.
And he welcomed the growing darkness.
- YIKES! The beginning of the end: you scare me with the inevitableness of what is coming.
As he rose and made a formal bow, striding toward the door with the dignity of a …well, of a Jedi, Obi Wan suddenly looked a lot like his much younger self again. Anakin hadn't seen that expression on his face since the night the Council had told Qui Gon Jinn that the boy he had discovered on Tatooine would not be trained; the night when Qui Gon had been his champion and father figure, declaring that he would train Anakin although he already had a Padawan learner; the night Qui Gon had effectively dismissed his current apprentice with a few brief words of lukewarm praise.
It felt good to see Obi Wan stunned and betrayed. Go cry on Mace's shoulder, Anakin thought at his mentor's retreating back.
- Wow - Anakin is so disillusioned. Not without reason, but still - he seems to want to harbor these feelings, almost that he feels empowered and superior because negative or not, he has feelings.
_
The sun was setting.
And he welcomed the growing darkness.
- YIKES! The beginning of the end: you scare me with the inevitableness of what is coming.
1/22 c1 jc anon
Another great story. I don't buy Anakin beating Obi-Wan because...I don't think the so-called Chosen One is all that. He's not much of anything as far as I'm concerned other than a character whose abilities were overstated to get viewers to like him in AOTC and ROTS. And the Clone Wars continues with that line of nonsense by diminishing Obi-Wan and other Jedi.
You write wonderfully, however:)
Another great story. I don't buy Anakin beating Obi-Wan because...I don't think the so-called Chosen One is all that. He's not much of anything as far as I'm concerned other than a character whose abilities were overstated to get viewers to like him in AOTC and ROTS. And the Clone Wars continues with that line of nonsense by diminishing Obi-Wan and other Jedi.
You write wonderfully, however:)
10/9/2012 c10 12LavenderStorm
Ah, poor Anakin. Always so idealistic. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that's all Anakin ever did. I don't believe he did anything to deserve his fate, but then, I'm biased.
It's all too easy to see things from Anakin's point of view. The struggle against an established, stick-in-the mud authority (Jedi Council), the strong will to act and speak up for his own beliefs, etc...All qualities that should be praised and admired, yet how did it lead him to the Dark side? Your stories show that; they fill in the blanks in the Clone War series and between Episode II and III. I really enjoyed the way you write Anakin, especially Anakin-Obi-Wan interactions. All in character, and perfectly so. Thank you for sharing, I'm off to read your other Anakin stories now!
12LavenderStormAh, poor Anakin. Always so idealistic. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that's all Anakin ever did. I don't believe he did anything to deserve his fate, but then, I'm biased.
It's all too easy to see things from Anakin's point of view. The struggle against an established, stick-in-the mud authority (Jedi Council), the strong will to act and speak up for his own beliefs, etc...All qualities that should be praised and admired, yet how did it lead him to the Dark side? Your stories show that; they fill in the blanks in the Clone War series and between Episode II and III. I really enjoyed the way you write Anakin, especially Anakin-Obi-Wan interactions. All in character, and perfectly so. Thank you for sharing, I'm off to read your other Anakin stories now!
4/12/2012 c1 Chades
Oh,ouch! The second half of the chapter make my stomach muscles tighten in dread and the first half made me applaud. I mean,to write such things it means that you probably have a great sense of humor,too. (I´m assuming,of course but if you´d not have a sense of humor it´d probalby impossible to write something like that.)
Oh,ouch! The second half of the chapter make my stomach muscles tighten in dread and the first half made me applaud. I mean,to write such things it means that you probably have a great sense of humor,too. (I´m assuming,of course but if you´d not have a sense of humor it´d probalby impossible to write something like that.)
3/17/2012 c10 6Snips95
Wow. That was intense. I loved everything about this story. :) very well done.
6Snips95Wow. That was intense. I loved everything about this story. :) very well done.
3/6/2012 c10 6Viviane Renard
I really like what this chapter did for you story. It's a great turning point, and shows a radical shift in the dynamics between Anakin and Obi-Wan (for the better), and Anakin's deepening resentment of the Jedi Council. You do a great job of expressing Anakin's hate towards the Council, and how the other Jedi can sense it (which only serves to further alienate Anakin as the other Jedi react negatively to him):
"Heat roiled off his skin, set the shadows on the mosaic floor into flickering unrest, seared through the Force like a hot rain. The Councilors stirred, frowned at him."
I'm curious to see how the rest of this story plays out, now that Obi-Wan realizes Anakin's delicate balance between the Light and Dark Side, and how easily he could tip either way. In some way, Obi-Wan's run in with spice was a boon, as it opened his eyes to the reality of Anakin's anger and gave him a second chance of friendship with Anakin. Before, he could deny the dark side growing in Anakin, but the spice delivered a demon-filled vision he couldn't ignore. I hope he can use that insight and change Anakin's future for the better!
6Viviane RenardI really like what this chapter did for you story. It's a great turning point, and shows a radical shift in the dynamics between Anakin and Obi-Wan (for the better), and Anakin's deepening resentment of the Jedi Council. You do a great job of expressing Anakin's hate towards the Council, and how the other Jedi can sense it (which only serves to further alienate Anakin as the other Jedi react negatively to him):
"Heat roiled off his skin, set the shadows on the mosaic floor into flickering unrest, seared through the Force like a hot rain. The Councilors stirred, frowned at him."
I'm curious to see how the rest of this story plays out, now that Obi-Wan realizes Anakin's delicate balance between the Light and Dark Side, and how easily he could tip either way. In some way, Obi-Wan's run in with spice was a boon, as it opened his eyes to the reality of Anakin's anger and gave him a second chance of friendship with Anakin. Before, he could deny the dark side growing in Anakin, but the spice delivered a demon-filled vision he couldn't ignore. I hope he can use that insight and change Anakin's future for the better!
3/5/2012 c10 53pronker
"Cold fire swept through his veins. "No," he spat out. No... he didn't accuse the Council of anything. He knew it. He lived it."
Lots of hate conjured up here; he does that so easily. Loved the ending with the tentative steps towards reconciliation. How would it be, I wonder, if the friendship foundered, as I believe it would in real life? They'd not return phone calls, distance themselves, wonder where it all went wrong ... urk. The GFFA in your stories is better than RL.
Laptop has returned to my lap!
53pronker"Cold fire swept through his veins. "No," he spat out. No... he didn't accuse the Council of anything. He knew it. He lived it."
Lots of hate conjured up here; he does that so easily. Loved the ending with the tentative steps towards reconciliation. How would it be, I wonder, if the friendship foundered, as I believe it would in real life? They'd not return phone calls, distance themselves, wonder where it all went wrong ... urk. The GFFA in your stories is better than RL.
Laptop has returned to my lap!
3/5/2012 c10 5kalimecat
There were so many little things I liked a. 1 just the fact that obi wan tried to resign from the council it shows how much of a toll this mission must have taken on him also it was just a really different twist. I also really liked the dialogue between anakin n obi wan at the end. I could sense anakin's initial angst,(with good reason) but def a good reconciliation
5kalimecatThere were so many little things I liked a. 1 just the fact that obi wan tried to resign from the council it shows how much of a toll this mission must have taken on him also it was just a really different twist. I also really liked the dialogue between anakin n obi wan at the end. I could sense anakin's initial angst,(with good reason) but def a good reconciliation
3/4/2012 c10 22LadySaxophone
You've left me in awe yet again, my friend.
This chapter was simply amazing. Obi Wan pleading for Anakin to stay, and Anakin thinking he could do that, for now. Pure genius. Is there to be an epilogue, or are you all done?
22LadySaxophoneYou've left me in awe yet again, my friend.
This chapter was simply amazing. Obi Wan pleading for Anakin to stay, and Anakin thinking he could do that, for now. Pure genius. Is there to be an epilogue, or are you all done?
3/3/2012 c10 angelmine-29
I really enjoy your work! I look forward to getting notices in my inboxes for your work. You do a wonderful job of capturing Anakin & Obi-Wan.
I really enjoy your work! I look forward to getting notices in my inboxes for your work. You do a wonderful job of capturing Anakin & Obi-Wan.
3/3/2012 c10 16Kenji Hyuga White tiger
AH, a great story, have you ever thought of becoming a novelist? You could make some serious dough my friend. Keep it up, and I still haven't forgotten about that story you promised me. And by that I mean the story I harshly demanded of you!
16Kenji Hyuga White tigerAH, a great story, have you ever thought of becoming a novelist? You could make some serious dough my friend. Keep it up, and I still haven't forgotten about that story you promised me. And by that I mean the story I harshly demanded of you!