Title: Twisted Fate
Author: Kera (sweet612kitty)
Pairing: Anakin/Obi-wan
Rating: Rated M, just to be safe (adult concepts, no nakedness)
Warnings: Contains slash. Otherwise, angst? schmoop? happy endings (of the non-pornographic kind)?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Wars related other than a whole bunch of Lego and figurines.

Summary: Anakin has had one love all of his life. It takes a bizarre mission on Glee Anselm for things to come to light. Takes place during the Clone Wars, but I haven't really specified when. Story is alternative timeline (AR) from the movies/tv show.

He knew why he did it. He knew why he stayed. It had always been clear in his mind even if outward appearances didn't betray as much as a whisper of his true emotions.

He was in love.

With someone, the only person, he truly couldn't have.

And it sucked. Hard.

He saw him daily. Their lives revolved around each other. They trained together. Ate together. Learned together. Laughed and cried together. And every moment was both the greatest high and the deepest low. A smile tossed his way was like a punch in the gut.

He couldn't leave. Nor did he want to. Ever.

So they continued on in a steady rhythm, the constancy of daily life moving like a well oiled, yet highly dysfunctional, machine.

And every day was cherished, while at the same time it was suffered in anguish. But he would have it no other way. This was the best he could hope for.

*~*~*

In a moment of weakness, he had betrayed the one he loves.

After Genosis, he realized that there is no possible way his love could be returned. He was a reckless, petulant youth that never listened to his Master and was very lucky he didn't get them both killed. The scars they were both left with were a physical reminder of how much Anakin had let Obi-wan down.

In a moment of fear and panic, he had confessed love to Padme. He didn't love her, at least not in the same all-consuming way he loved Obi-wan, but he needed someone, anyone, and he could feel her love for him singing through the Force. It was like a balm. After his mother's death on Tatooine, after Genosis, he needed that warmth and affection.

And he knew he would never get it from the one person he craves it from.

So he marries Padme. And he tells himself that this is better. He will be happy. He can forget. He's been doing it so long, it's almost second nature to him.

*~*~*

The war was all consuming. Anakin becomes a knight, but somehow remains at Obi-wan's side. The Council is reluctant to split up the dynamic duo. The Negotiator and the Hero with No Fear.

Staying with Obi-wan is everything he could have hoped for, alongside the worst punishment imaginable.

In battle, he is distracted, always fearing for Obi-wan's life. When threats are detected, Anakin goes into automatic, doing anything to protect his Master, even if it means risking his own life. His actions, taken to protect his Master's life, are where he gets his title from. The Hero with No Fear. But he is afraid. He's afraid he'll lose the man he loves more than life itself, so he takes chances. And he will stop at nothing to succeed.

Padme is always on his mind too. But not in the way she should be. He should miss her, instead of feeling this staggering guilt.

But he doesn't. He doesn't miss her.

Maybe it's because he's too wrapped up in the war. Maybe it's because he's matured. Grown harder, colder, due to the necessities of war.

Maybe it's because, once again, his life revolves around Obi-wan.

And he's content with that.

*~*~*

Anakin's life is turned upside down on a rare diplomatic mission to Glee Anselm.

They had been so consumed by war lately, it was hard to switch gears and leave the battlefield behind. But both he and Obi-wan were looking forward to this much needed break from senseless killing and bloodbath.

The mission was going well for once. There had been some minor setbacks. Small skirmishes. All thankfully remediated without the use of his lightsabre.

Through it all he was itching to go into battle. He wasn't used to sitting still. He was restless. And being so close to his love wasn't helping.

It also wasn't helping that they were sharing quarters. Again. Space was always limited in times of war.

But this time it was harder. It seems that somehow there was a miscommunication, and only one room was assigned to them for their stay. With only one bed.

Anakin didn't sleep much, but was too distracted to notice that Obi-wan didn't either.

*~*~*

It was an hour into the banquet when he realized something was wrong.

It was their third day here. Anakin was exhausted from lack of sleep, endless negotiations, and food intended for digestive systems that were not human. All Anakin wanted to do was sleep, but it had been implied that their presence at the banquet was not negotiable. Their presence was mandatory if talks were to continue the next day.

So when he realized that both the wine and the food at the banquet were palatable to humans, he overindulged. He wasn't aware he was doing so. It was just so good to be able to eat again.

He noticed Obi-wan do the same.

But after a while his head started to spin. He had trouble concentrating, but he chalked it up to exhaustion and hunger and ate some more.

It was when Obi-wan collapsed that he realized something must be wrong. The only other time he had seen Obi-wan collapse was when he had a nasty case of Balmorra flu.

He rushed over to Obi-wan's side. His Master was conscious, but obviously affected by something.

"Anakin.... the wine.... I think it was spiked... part of the celebration..."

Anakin looked around him. Sure enough, the fellow party-goers were in quite a jovial mood, laughing and celebrating without realizing that one of the Jedi had collapsed. Anakin saw several of the Nautolan's paired off with each other in the darkened edges of the room. He could also see a few groups of three.

That was when it hit him. This wasn't a harvest celebration (as Obi-wan had, apparently inaccurately, translated). It was a mating celebration. And they had been required to take part. The hallucinogen, which apparently had weird effects in humans and caused his head to spin and Obi-wan to collapse, was likely all part of the festivities. It didn't seem to affect the Nautolan's in quite the same way. Must be due to a difference in physiology. They definitely did not look concerned.

Knowing that the celebrants were too wrapped up in their ritual to realize the two Jedi were missing, Anakin picked Obi-wan up, placed him over his shoulder (which he always seemed to be doing) and staggered back to their room. It was best if this drug ran its course in private.

Obi-wan sang the entire way back.

And Anakin fell in love a little bit more.

*~*~*

Anakin reached their assigned quarters and struggled to get them both inside without hitting Obi-wan's head on the doorframe or dropping him. His hold on Obi-wan was perilous. Not only was Obi-wan singing loudly, but now he was trying to dance too, sending Anakin's limited sense of balance off kilter.

"Ana..." hic "Ana..." hic "Anakin..."

"Yes, Master?"

Obi-wan paused. "Anakin. I appear to be upside down."

"I had to carry you back to our rooms. You passed out from the wine, which appears to have been spiked. It seems tonight's celebrations had more of a sexual nature than you realized."

"Oh. OH! Well, now what the Minister said makes sense! I thought he meant that we should join them in celebrating the harvest, but now that I think about the verb tenses he used... Anakin, why is the floor moving so much?... anyways, yes, I believe he actually meant that we were to be joined together at the harvest celebrations. Yes, that makes sense."

Anakin lowered his Master off his shoulder and onto the small couch that was in their room.

"On what planet does that make sense to you?" Anakin swayed and dropped himself next to Obi-wan on the couch. It was a tight fit, and he brushed up close to his Master, their legs pressed together. "Obi-wan, if you are correct, we just got drugged and bonded together at an alien harvest celebration! Making sense is the last thing I would call it! It's insane!"

"Well, when you put it that way..." hic "I don't know about you, but I can think of worse people to be bonded to, in fact I can't think of anyone who I would prefer to be bonded to, plus it's probably only a legitimate bond here on Glee Anselm, and it will help with negotiations."

Anakin stood up and started to pace. However, he was still quite disoriented, so instead of his normal frenzied pacing, he now stumbled with intent in a generally linear fashion.

"What are we going to do?" Anakin asked, tone subdued.

"About what? Anakin, your pacing is distracting. If you are talking about the bonding, I say we just go with it and see where the chips fall. At least until negotiations are over. The Force works in mysterious ways, and all that." Obi-wan started to look at his fingers with great interest. "Hey, Anakin, do my hands look funny? I think my hands look funny..."

Anakin stopped pacing and looked at his companion. "Obes, how much did you have to drink?"

"Oh, I don't know. A few glasses. I was thirsty and the Ambassador kept giving me more. He said the strangest thing. That it was my job to be obedient to you for the evening and I told him that the day I let you lead was the day I resigned myself to the dark side of the Force, do you remember Tarsus V? Anyways, he said it was my place to be at your whim, and that our lives would run more smoothly if I let you take control every so often... hey you know what? In light of recent developments, what he said might actually be much dirtier than I thought..."

Anakin swallowed. Not only was Obi-wan rambling (which was adorable), but the subject matter had him imagining all sorts of scenarios that he had no right imagining. Especially while drugged.

"Obi-wan" Anakin nervously chuckled. "I think that the Ambassador was implying that you were going to be the wife in this.... whatever..."

Obi-wan stared at him blankly for a second, then blinked rapidly as the idea snapped into sense in his mind. "I think you may be right. Whatever would have given that impression though?"

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. It could be anything. Maybe it's because you're shorter. Maybe they have bonds where the wife is the elder of the two. Maybe you have feminine qualities, or at least appear feminine in the eyes of Nautolan's..."

Obi-wan shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter. What's done is done, although I could think of better arrangements for a honeymoon. And I would have preferred some form of ceremony to mark the occasion...."

Anakin stared at Obi-wan in shock. "You're taking this really well, even for being drugged. I expected you to be a little bit more, I don't know, distraught, angry, enraged, flabbergasted... I don't know, pick one. I didn't expect you to just 'go with it' or be upset with the particulars of the ceremony, or lack thereof!"

Obi-wan stood up and walked closer to Anakin. "Well, it's not necessarily an unwelcome development, plus I think the drug is starting to wear off. I feel more like myself again. Head hurts a bit though."

"You're pupils are still dilated and you're swaying a bit. I don't think that the drug is wearing off."

Obi-wan reached up and cupped the side of Anakin's face with his hand. "I still want this. I've wanted this for years. The bonding gives us an excellent opportunity to explore our feelings for each other, in the guise of it being for the mission. I ... I mean, if you feel the same way. I understand if you do not, and we can just go back to the way things were. I need you in my life. I've gotten rather fond of having you around."

"I feel the same way. Force, Obi-wan, I had no idea you felt this way. You hid your feelings well." Anakin nuzzled into the hand which still rested on the side of his face.

"The Council frowns heavily on Masters engaging in certain activities with their Padawans, even after their Padawan has been knighted. Plus, it's not really the Jedi way to fall in love. Soul bonds are allowed in some circumstances, but the Council is always very hesitant to allow them. Passion and attachment have a tendency of leading one to the dark side, after all. But they can't say much to us being joined as part of a mission. And they won't push for us to dissolve any type of bond once it has been formed as a part of that joining, even if it was accidental. This would give us the opportunity to create one if we wanted to."

"Obi-wan, I'm married."

Obi-wan recoiled in shock and pulled his hand away from Anakin's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I.. I had no idea. I will see about getting this union dissolved. I'm sure it won't be difficult, once we explain things."

Obi-wan looked like he wanted to question him about his secret marriage, so Anakin interjected. "No! Wait! I don't want to dissolve this bond, our bond. Not now when I finally know how you feel. I'll dissolve the other bond. She means nowhere near as much as you do to me. I mean, I obviously cared enough to marry her, and to break my bonds to the Jedi, but, well, it was a moment of weakness when I was younger."

"Just how long HAVE you been married?"

"Since right after Genosis. She, Padme," Anakin noticed the realization flash across Obi-wan's face, "told me that she loves me right before we entered into the arena to be chained to those pillars. I kissed her, since we were so sure we were going to die. Afterwards, when I escorted her back to Naboo, she arranged for us to get married. At the time, it seemed to be a good idea. I mean, I wasn't thinking clearly about anything at the time. Since then, the love I've felt for her has mellowed. But she's still madly in love with me, I can feel it in the force, and it was so nice to just be ... loved."

"I have always loved you."

"I know, but I guess I never knew how deep that love was. I always assumed you loved me like a best friend, or a brother. Not romantically."

"I should have told you, but I feared losing you. And I worried about how strong my emotions regarding you are. Fear leads to the dark side, and I definitely love you passionately which also can be dangerous. I worried about getting wrapped up in those emotions and either losing you, or losing myself. It was silly, in retrospect. Nothing which brings us joy, which makes us happy, should really be that much of a danger. For all we know, this is what the Force wants of us."

"If it is, it's not like the Force is dropping subtle hints."

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"I want to be with you. It's always been you. I love you."

"I love you too." Obi-wan grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bed.

*~*~*

From that moment onwards, the pair is inseparable. The war was still ongoing, they fight side by side like they always did, and always would. The Force bond that they formed is an added advantage against their enemy. They fight like no other warriors; as if they are of one body, of one mind. They become ruthless and cunning, rarely to be defeated in battle. Anakin no longer fears for Obi-wan since he can feel him, real and tangible, in the Force at all times. He is a little less reckless since he has so much more to lose now.

Padme is heartbroken when Anakin goes to see her. She knew the boy she had married was no more. The war had seen to that. Instead, in his place, stood a man shaped by battle and death. She had hoped that, after the war, they could relearn each other, start anew, and stay married, but she very quickly realized that all her hopes were for naught. He had changed too much, and so has she. They decide to part as friends, and it works.

The war takes a definitive turn for the side of the Republic when the Sith Lord is found out. Palpatine tries to lure Anakin to the dark side, not knowing that Anakin has formed a bond with his Master. Anakin is not tempted, for he knows that the dark side is a path on which Obi-wan will never follow. Obi-wan senses Anakin's despair through the Force and gathers aide to storm the Chancellors office. The death of Palpatine does not end the war, but from then on out, the battles shift from tragic loss after tragic loss, to small wins that begin to bring peace to the galaxy.

Through it all, Anakin has Obi-wan in his arms, and his soul is at rest.