#she can take the smallest miscommunication as a personal attack or like she did something wrong

[queencvbra]

One thing I need to bring up about Tory and her ADHD is that one of the biggest symptoms she has (outside of the "basic" symptoms like hyperactivity, attention issues, etc.) is Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. I feel like it plays into her Intermittent Explosive Disorder getting triggered because a lot of the explosive episodes she has stem from feelings of rejection, whether that's on a personal or societal level. It's why she's so sensitive to what people say to her and tends to take things the wrong way, she just preemptively expects the worst from most people and expects people to dislike her even if they don't necessarily have a reason to.

Her default state is so combative and overly sensitive because it's a defense mechanism. No one can shock you with rejection or disappointment if you stay ready for it, or if you treat people like they've already done something to wrong you. And those times when she is caught off guard and genuinely gets her feelings hurt, even if it's over something stupid or her misinterpreting something? That's usually what triggers her. That's what leads to her overreacting. She's been through a lot over the years that's hurt her in ways she can't explain, and yet she still can't process it. For so long her only ways to cope were to either shut down or blow up. She's getting better about it, she has new ways to deal with things and a support system now, but it's all still new to her and she's not perfect about how she deals with those feelings.

[colehasapen]

As a prompt: "It has long been impressed into Anakin Skywalker's mind that if something goes wrong, he should call Obi-Wan. As a result, after Palpatine reveals that he was the secret Sith lord all along, Anakin comms Obi-Wan while incoherently screaming. Obi-Wan goes 'Anakin calm down, tell me what's wrong, and we'll think about this for more than five seconds.' the result of this is the saving of the galaxy."

For as long as Anakin had been a Jedi, Obi-Wan had been watching his student’s back, has been doing his best to be what the younger man needs. He had made sure Anakin had known since he was nine years old - too small but too old, too quiet but too loud, a Freed slave who didn’t know what being Free meant - that he would drop everything to help him if he needed him, that he’d be there to support him no matter how unimportant the matter seemed to be. Obi-Wan knows too well the pain of being brushed off by the person he was supposed to be able to lean on, remembers the words that had never been meant to be uncaring but never seemed to care enough.

Obi-Wan had never wanted Anakin to feel the same, but he can’t help but feel like he failed.

He used to call for the smallest of things, the most minor of things, things that made his classmates give him weird looks for needing his master for something like not knowing what to pick for lunch, but as he’d gotten older, Anakin had pulled away from him, almost aggressively at times. Obi-Wan had promised him that he was there if he wanted to talk, but Anakin never reached out, never took the hand that was being offered to him.

Sometimes, Obi-Wan had worried that he never would again, that their relationship was too damaged by misunderstandings and miscommunications to be fixed. The Clone Wars had brought them back together, had led to them becoming closer than they had ever been before, but it had also made their differences painfully possible. He hopes that, with the impending end to the War, that maybe they’d be able to bridge those differences, as equals instead of Master and Padawan, or High General and General. Stepping down from the Council will make him more approachable, hopefully, and maybe they’ll be able to be honest with each other.

After the War. He casts his mind to his troopers, who will be able to be free once the War is no longer dragging down any bill brought to the Senate. To Cody, who will no longer be his subordinate, who will be free to live and laugh and love however he pleases, like he and all his siblings deserve. They’ll be able to see a Galaxy without constant battle, to discover things about themselves they never could with the threat of the Senate and Kamino breathing down their necks.

Maybe Ahsoka will return, like she had expressed an interest in during their last conversation. Maybe Anakin will finally come clean about the nature of his relationship with Padme, and will no longer feel the need to hide a part of himself.

Maybe they’ll all be able to just be free.

It’s a sweet thought that powers him through the bad days.

They’re already so close to the end, Dooku is dead, and the Seperatist Senate is collapsing, most of its members defecting to return to the Republic. With ARC Trooper Echo’s rescue from the Techno Union, they had lost a valuable resource, and the droids couldn’t keep up with the Trooper’s knowledge of their movements and tactics. It’s almost over, all Obi-Wan has to do is defeat General Grievous, and they’ll be able to bring the remaining leaders in for negotiations - not even the strongest voices for war in the Senate will be able to continue the fighting if there was no one left to fight.

They just have to defeat Grievous here, then they can turn their attention to finding the Sith Lord, and if Ahsoka can capture Maul, then they have a perfect way to learn their identity.

He’s just running Cody and lieutenants through the final branch of their plan of attack, when his comm chimes, and, absently, Obi-Wan answers it, wondering if its command with more intel. “This is Kenobi.”

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin’s voice wobbles over the comm, like it had back when he was a child, and didn’t know what to do when confronted with a choice between milk and juice at breakfast. He sounds young - young and scared in the way that he hadn’t allowed himself to sound since he had turned sixteen and started pulling away from Obi-Wan.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan straightens, turning away from the holotable, feeling Cody’s worried eyes drilling into the back of his head. “What’s wrong, dear one?”

“I-” Anakin stutters slightly, sounding close to tears, and Obi-Wan wishes desperately that he was on Coruscant so that he could comfort the young man, “- Obi-Wan, the Chancellor - he’s -” Anakin is quiet for a long moment, and when he speaks again, his voice is pitched lower, like he’s desperately trying to control his breathing or like he was sharing a dark secret, “- he’s the Sith Lord.”

Behind him, Cody and his men go deathly still.

Obi-Wan’s heart drops. “He’s the what?” He breathes in shock, mind rolling in his head as he tries to connect Anakin’s dear friend, the leader of the Republic, with the shadowy Sith Lord. He hadn’t listened - Dooku had warned him. He had been told that the Sith Lord was in the Senate, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to believe him, had thought it was just another mind game so soon after he had taunted him with Qui-Gon. “Anakin - are you alright?”

He had let him be around his Padawan. Around his Grandpadawan.

“He told me.” Anakin says shakily, “He - he said that there were ways to keep people from dying - skills that only Sith knew. He told me a story about Darth Plegueis - there’s no records of a Sith by that name ever existing in history.”

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan says pointedly, and he glances over his shoulder to see Cody rapidly typing into his own comm. “Where are you?”

“At the Temple.” His former Padawan murmurs, “Master Windu’s taken a team to arrest the - the Sith Lord.”

“Okay.” Obi-Wan forces himself to breathe past his own nervousness, releasing his fear into the Force and embracing the calmness it brought him, the clarity. “Okay, breathe, Ani. Who did Master Windu take?”

“Masters Fisto, Kolar, and Tiin.” Four of the best swordsmen in the Order, all on one team to confront the Sith Lord. Obi-Wan prays to the Force that they’ll be enough. “Master. He - he said that he could help me save Padme.”

Obi-Wan’s brows furrow, confusion bubbling up past his alarm, “What’s happened to Padme?” She had been fine the last time he had seen her, glowing with pregnancy and excited to travel back to the Naberrie home on Naboo to give birth to her children. Her Force signature had been strong and bright, as had the life forces of her babies. He had even asked Sabe to pass on his wishes of good health the last they spoke.

“She’s - I’ve been having dreams again Master -” Obi-Wan’s stomach drops again, he remembers too well that painful week of Anakin’s nightmares about his mother’s death. He had urged his Padawan to meditate on them, the last time, as his Padawan had never before shown much of a connection to the cosmic Force, or any predisposition for visions, hoping that he’d be able to help him learn to differentiate nightmares from true visions. But then their mission to protect Senator Amidala had happened, which had led him to Kamino and Anakin to Naboo, and they’d never gotten the chance to really study the root of Anakin’s dreams.

Anakin had screamed himself hoarse afterwards, blaming Obi-Wan for his mother’s death, telling him that if he had just listened to him, than she would still be alive. It had driven them even further apart.

“Anakin-”

“She’s pregnant, Master.” Anakin interrupts in a rush, “And I’ve been dreaming of it - her dying.”

“Ani-”

“And you can’t say that they’re just dreams! They’re real! And Chancellor Palpatine says that he can save her.”

“Anakin, I need you to take a deep breath, to center yourself.” Obi-Wan keeps his voice soft and soothing, and he can hear Anakin’s breathing slowing the longer they speak. “Please, think through this rationally. People don’t die of childbirth on Core Worlds, nor do they on Naboo. The last time I spoke to her, Padme was strong, as were her children, the Force is strong with them, healthy. Save foul play, nothing should happen to her.” Anakin’s breath shivers, “Ani, listen to me. Nothing Palpatine can offer you would be worth what you’d lose. You’re strong, Padme is strong, your children are strong. Trust me. Trust Padme. Trust yourself.”

“I -” His former Padawan stutters for a second, “- children?”

“Yes.” Obi-Wan says slowly, patiently - anything to pull the younger Jedi from the spiral he had fallen into. “You didn’t know?”

“How did you?” Anakin asks incredulously, and Obi-Wan huffs out a slight laugh.

“They’re strong in the Force.” Behind him, Cody waves to catch his attention, gesturing to the holotable, and Obi-Wan lets out a breath. “Anakin, listen to me. Master Ti should still be in the Healing Halls, go to her, tell her what Palpatine told you. She’ll send Shadows to help defeat the Sith Lord. Soon I’ll have Grievous, and the War will be over. I have to go now, but I swear to you, I’ll comm you as soon as the battle is over.”

“Okay.” Anakin breathes, “Alright. Be safe, Master.”

“The Force is with you Anakin.” Obi-Wan promises, “Trust in it, and trust in yourself. I’ll see you soon.”

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