Murder the Dawn: Chapter Thirty One: Partings.

[ladyofleithian]

In which Anakin goes off to face Grievous.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Notes: Hope this chapter doesn't come off too rushed. Also, I'll admit, sending Anakin to face Grievous was more out of a minor irritation from the movies on my part -- okay, true, Anakin's close to the Chancellor, but there's the problem -- putting Anakin in such a difficult position. My Anakin bias aside, if there's one thing that Anakin can't do, it's betray a friend (even if said friend is actually a scumbag in disguise). I think in a way, putting him in such a difficult position -- it didn't solely cause him to fall, but it sure as hell accelerated it.

Honestly, I think it would have made a lot more sense if they had someone spy on Palpatine that wasn't as attached to the Chancellor. True, it wouldn't have been convincing, but I think it would have saved them a lot of grief. Or at the very least, tried to spy on Palpatine themselves instead of having the Chosen One do the dirty work for them. (God, now that I think about it, the Council really does suffer from "stupid for the plot to proceed", doesn't it? I mean, seriously a lot!) YMMV, of course, but...It Just Bugs Me. 

Anyway...on with the show.

The Jedi Council knows what it’s doing.

But even after the meeting, Obi-Wan doubted it. The Council had much wisdom, yes, but for the first time, he was wondering if they were wrong. Perhaps they saw him as the best fit in order to spy on Palpatine, and yet at the same time...

Even now, Obi-Wan could not help but worry for Anakin’s safety in regards to Grievous. Anakin was capable, yes, more than capable. And yet at the same time, Grievous had slain some of their finest Jedi. Who said that Anakin stood a chance?

Don’t be ridiculous. He’s more than capable.

“Obi-Wan, are you all right?” Even now, Anakin’s voice made him wonder if he was making his emotions that obvious now.

“A bit worried about you. Nothing more.”

“Honestly, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said, trying to crack a grin -- feeble as it was. “Look at Geonosis -- I survived that one, didn’t I?”

“You did. I guess it’s just that...well...” Obi-Wan forced a chuckle. “Call it me having an instance of overprotective mentor mode, one last time.”

Anakin laughed as well. “You excel at that, really. Goodbye, Master. May the Force be with you.”

“Anakin, wait!”

Obi-Wan wanted to say so much, really, before Anakin went off to face Grievous -- how proud he was of him, perhaps, how he had surpassed all expectations, to be careful out there on Utapau and mind his training. He wanted to say so much, but even now, words seemed to be failing him, combined instead with worry that seemed to have seized him all the way to his spine. Instead, he said, “Anakin?”

“Yes?” Anakin’s voice was soft, almost inaudible, even slightly afraid. Even now, he sounded almost like a vulnerable little boy instead of the Jedi Knight that Obi-Wan had trained.

“Good luck.”

Even now, it sounded so anticlimactic, so weak, that somehow Obi-Wan wished that he could say more. But he doubted that there was any more he could say. He sighed, before turning around to get home to Satine. After all, Force knows he needed it. 

Comments

[kinofsimon.livejournal.com]

"the Council really does suffer from "stupid for the plot to proceed", doesn't it?"

Where to begin...

1. Sending Anakin as Padme's bodyguard
- Let's ignore those young hormones!
- He ain't even a Jedi Knight yet!
- He's the goddamn Chosen One. Maybe they should keep a close eye on him...

2. Allowing Obi-Wan to train Anakin
- "But I promised Qui-Gon!"
- Apparently, one simply has to beg to the Council [or in this case, Yoda] enough times in quick succession to get them to do things you want

3. Generally ignoring the whole "Chosen One" bit
- Was it Mace who recognized Anakin had much fear, even at the young age of nine?
- Being that he is the CHOSEN ONE, along with having all that fear and anger [once again, at a young age], why was there never, say, a Jedi psychologist [yes, Jedi pyschologist] seeing Anakin on a regular basis? Seriously. The kid's got issues. The Darkside aside, somebody with all that rage and blah blah blah could very easily be labeled, say, a sociopath. Just sayin.
- Yoda, Mace, and Kenobi discussing that perhaps the Chosen One prophecy was misread. Well, gosh...if it was misread and now Anakin is a liability, why not, gee, CALL HIM TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, and for good measure, RIP THE FORCE FROM HIM. It's not done very often [Nomi Sunrider once did it to Ulic Qel-Droma], but it is a surefire way to curb problematic Jedi. Harsh, but effective.


Well, that's all I got for now

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Definitely agreed. Seriously, I think at the very least, they should have at least sent someone who wasn't guaranteed to fall in love with Padme on the job, and sent Anakin to do some detective work on Kamino. I'm thinking it mostly happened for the whole love story thing to proceed.

And yeah...Obi-Wan. Seriously, the poor fellow's too young for the job, and still in shock over Qui-Gon's death. Not exactly a good combination. Hell, I think most of Obi-Wan's failings in terms of training Anakin were mostly because he simply wasn't ready for the job. Then again, to be fair, it's not exactly like he had a handbook called "Training Your Padawan For Dummies" -- although come to think of it, they really should have passed those out at the Temple.

I know, right? At the very least, why didn't they have special accommodations set up for him? I mean, some would argue that the Jedi Order isn't a daycare center and yadda yadda yadda, but FFS -- at the very least, don't they have separation/grief counseling?

Seriously, this to all of your comment, so very much.