The truth was hard, as Obi-Wan had soon discovered. When you place your trust and hopes in someone, you expect them to succeed and excel. You don't expect them to do something completely irrational, let alone without your input.

Anakin stood before him now, and Obi-Wan was absolutely astonished. To think that his apprentice could do something so rash without another thought was mind boggling. It was true, though, that Anakin was not known for being the most logical of people. Actually, Anakin had always been known for being impulsive, but Obi-Wan had opted to overlook this trait, thinking that Anakin would grow out of it.

How much more wrong could he have gotten?

Now he looked over to the young man, with the dirty blonde hair and startling blue eyes. Anakin had an almost defiant look on his face that seemed to say: Just try and lecture me.

Obi-Wan found his voice again, after hearing his Padawan's not-so-great news. "How could you?" he whispered, astonished. "I thought you knew better than that!"

Anakin's eyes flashed with anger, but it was quickly hidden back into his mind. "I love her, Master! What else could I have done?!"

"You could have consulted me first! It is against the code for a Padawan to marry! You know this!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, fighting against his own growing anger.

"And what would coming to you have accomplished?! You would just have said the same things you said now!"

The words hurt. Obi-Wan now realized that at some level, his apprentice did not trust him. And trust was the basis for a Master-Padawan relationship.

"There are other ways, Anakin. I could have helped you, could have aided you with my knowledge..."

Anakin's mouth twisted into a sneer. "And what would you know of love, Master!" he cried out, spitting out the last word as if it were poison, "You never gone against the code in your life!"

It felt like venom from a snake bite. Obi-Wan had never been so... so defeated in his life, not even after Cerasi or Qui-Gon's deaths. His apprentice hated him.

Obi-Wan answered back, but not with the anger and frustration that Anakin had shown. His voice was only a whisper in comparison. "And what would know of my own experiences, Padawan? Have you ever asked about my life?"

Anakin shook his head, but the anger was ever present in his actions.

"I left the Order once, but you never bothered to ask me that. I also loved a girl once, but she was killed in a bloody planetary war. But you didn't know that either, did you Anakin? Because you never asked me. Never wanted to learn from my own experiences."

The younger man's face seemed to change for an instant, showing compassion and sadness, before returning to its former maelstrom. "And what would it matter, Master, if I had come to you? You wouldn't have done anything, just like all the other times. Now excuses me, Master, I have other things to attend to." With that, the young man turned and left a very saddened Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Guilt struck Obi-Wan like a hammer. Part of this was his fault, as he had never been close to Anakin like Qui-Gon had close to him. But Obi-Wan had never had time to himself, moving right from being someone's Padawan to being someone else's master. He had had no transition period, no time to explore the galaxy on his own. Maybe if he had, things would have been different between him and Anakin. But it was too late now, to late to change what could have been.

A rift was between them a now, a rift that Obi-Wan knew would be practically impossible to repair, and not just because of this fight. No, in those moments of bitter disagreement, Obi-Wan had seen something in Anakin's eyes, something sinister. Emotions borne of darkness lay there, hidden deep inside. Maybe they had always resided there, or maybe they had been created slowly over the years. But whatever the reason, Obi-Wan knew that Anakin had been changed forever.

He knew, also, that the galaxy would soon change. He had seen it in his dreams, as he was very gifted to attuning to the unifying force, which sometimes led to visions. Nothing was ever quite clear in theses visions, as the future was always in motion, but the underlying principle of it all was that something terrible would happen. Obi-Wan didn't know when or how, but he knew that both he and his Padawan had major parts in play in it.

And that was what frightened him the most.

*This was intended as a stand alone, although now that I think about it, I may change it into a series, but only if people are interested. Thanks!*