Opening his eyes, Obi-Wan let out a thoughtful little hum as he ran his thumb over the pale crystal, pointedly ignoring where his blanket became empty spaces. “You’re right, its clearly more sentient than my average tears but to be fair, tears come from channels in my eyes, blood comes from my heart.” Obi-Wan noted quietly as he looked to Anakin.

Being awake once more was an interesting experience Obi-Wan had to admit, he hadn’t been long awake after greeting Anakin and the council, falling asleep only to wake up what felt like only seconds later but was really days after.

He knew that, because Anakin had time to grow a scraggly beard as he slept with his head on the bed and Ahsoka was doing her homework at Obi-Wan’s bedside, a small table having been brought in.

Him awake though had sent the young padawan scrambling for a healer and Anakin waking up and pretty much falling off the bed, squeaking a bit before desperately grasping Obi-Wan’s hand.

Since then Obi-Wan had carefully been examined and then, after getting a new IV bag set up and several pillows to aid him, he had gingerly sat up against the support of said pillows.

He didn’t feel strong, no, rather Obi-Wan felt humiliatingly feeble, but he was awake and not tired enough to sleep.

The healers had been quick to inform him that while the council had been informed, none of them would be bye right now.

One, due to the work they currently had.

But also two, Obi-Wan had to recover, he had been through several traumatic events in a very short period of time and he had to decompress and take in what had really happened to him.

Digest it so to speak.

One of the first things the healers had tested was if Obi-Wan’s ability to cry kyber had been harmed, forcing him to cry by dropping eye drops into both his eyes as a precaution.

It had taken longer than normally but both the tears that had come from the eye dropper had transformed into two crystal clear if weak kyber crystals that the healer collected to deliver to the saber quartermasters and the crate of crystals they kept.

But the white, almost clear crystal made from Obi-Wan’s blood that had been purified?

It stayed with Anakin.

It didn’t tolerate to be separated from Anakin, screaming as if in pain when it was separated, though it tolerated being handled by Obi-Wan, almost humming and vibrating in recognition when held by Obi-Wan.

Shifting his stumps under the blanket, valiantly ignoring how it felt, Obi-Wan held it out for Anakin to take.

Carefully, Anakin did, wrapping it in a little blue cloth that he then tucked into his belt, shrugging when Obi-Wan peered curiously at him. “It… felt cold without a wrap. Its a very peculiar crystal. What do you think Palpatine was trying to do even?” He questioned quietly.

Huffing faintly, sliding a bit down in the pillows settled behind him, Obi-Wan shook his head. “I really have no idea. My best guess is that he was trying to create a crystal that responded well to darkness. But you know how my tears respond to it, I highly doubt even Palpatine knew what he had created and we can’t exactly ask him anymore.” He smiled a tad wryly.

Dourly, Anakin glared at the wall before reaching out and grabbing Obi-Wan’s left hand, careful of the right since it had the IV line. “Yeah, I don’t think I would have wanted to hear it anyhow. Bastard can rot.” He snapped quietly before quieting when Obi-Wan squeezed his hand.

Familiar with his former padawan, Obi-Wan smiled sadly. “I’ll be okay, you know that, right?” Obi-Wan murmured, stroking his thumb over Anakin’s knuckles.

Instead of comforting though, the words seemed to make Anakin’s mood fall even lower as he grimaced, staring down at Obi-Wan and his entwined hands, holding on tightly.

And much to Obi-Wan’s dismay, he could feel the twist of guilt and self-loathing wafting of Anakin and into the Force. “Oh Anakin, you… come here you silly thing. You weren’t at fault for what happened to me.” He whispered, pulling gently on the younger man’s hand. He wanted to pull Anakin onto the bed but unfortunately he felt ridiculously weak, where even Anakin’s lackluster resistance was too much for Obi-Wan to overcome.

Oh, he despised the weakness his situation had made him and hoped the healers would start on his physical therapy sooner rather than later.

For a moment, Anakin resisted, looking like he wanted to withdraw into himself. And then his face crumbled as he let out a hiccup, folding to Obi-Wan’s silent, tugging demand.

Carefully, the man knelt onto the bed and let himself be fold into the Jedi master’s arms, hugged tightly by Obi-Wan. “I knew you were in trouble, I knew something was up but I still left you alone,” Anakin spasmed, his hands fisted in Obi-Wan’s medical tunic. “And you were abducted and harmed and… we almost lost you. I almost lost you.” He shuddered hard, pressing his face to Obi-Wan’s neck, salty tears dripping along the skin.

Pushing Anakin slightly back, Obi-Wan huffed out a shaken laugh, thumbing the thin and dark skin from sleep deprivation beneath Anakin’s wet eyes as he dried the tears. “But you didn’t. And you came for me,” He whispered, forcing his voice to remain even in the quiet, sterile room that would be his for the foreseeable future. “No,” He shook his head. “Anakin, just minutes later and it would have been too late. You arrived just in time. You found me and you got me, you brought me home to safety and help.” As he spoke, his smile grew.

And as he spoke, Anakin stared at him, looking struck at the words before letting out a low sob before he dragged Obi-Wan to his arms once more, the two hugging tightly. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t just leave you. I… I can’t let go easily. I know I’m attached. I know I struggle… but master, I’m not ready to let you go. Not yet.” He confessed, trembling as he ran his hand over Obi-Wan’s warm back, feeling the skin through the thin tunic.

Chuckling shakily, Obi-Wan simply pressed a kiss to Anakin’s temple. “That’s alright,” He stated softly. “We can work on it together Anakin, because… I’m not ready to let go of you either just yet, dear one.”

Anakin tensed before laughing shakily. “Okay Obi-Wan… you, me and Ahsoka. We’ll work on it…” He agreed, his voice clearly rattled yet somehow content at the same time, his guilt and self loathing still evident in the Force.

But also love.

Soft, warm love of someone Obi-Wan knew he could trust.

Someone he would always be able to trust.

“We’ll be alright Anakin,” He murmured, ignoring the doors swishing open to admit a healer. “You and me, Skywalker and Kenobi, the team, because there is no one else I’d rather have at my side than you.” Obi-Wan stated, confident in his words as Anakin continued clinging to him, warm and comforting against Obi-Wan’s body.

“Us against the world.” Anakin agreed quietly, reluctantly letting go when the healer coughed pointedly, her cheeks red and flustered as if she was loath to interrupt the two.

Still, even as Obi-Wan’s vitals were checked over once more, the two smiled at each other, secure in the knowledge that whatever else came, they’d have each other.