Chapter One

Father-Daughter Jedi Training

Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled gently as he looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom, light from the first sunrise peaking in through the nearby window. Alone in the room, he listened to his two favorite sounds, the voices of his wife (in all things except legality, of course) and daughter, who spoke together in the nearby dining area, Obi-Wan imagining their usual cups of caf in front of them.

Catching passages of conversation, he knew they spoke of the future, the grand adventure the Kenobi family now planned. Then he heard one of them rise, moving toward his room. Suddenly, Mayli, his darling mate, entered.

"Hey sleepy head," she said, leaning down to kiss him, placing a steaming cup on the table next to their bed.

Obi-Wan kissed her back as he shifted to a sitting position. Over eighteen years together, here on Tatooine, and Mayli still enchanted him. Her once platinum blonde hair now more silver than shimmering gold, she kept it long, falling about her playful grin, her violet eyes complementing her aging face, captivating everyone that met them.

Mayli opened her mouth to speak again as she sat on the bed next to him, but Zella's voice rang through the house, shouting, making both her parents cringe at the loud sound so early in the morning.

"Dad!" she called from the living room. "We training this morning? It's getting late!"

Late? Obi-Wan remembered when he used to get up before the first sun to do his mediation and lightsaber exercises. He'd let a few things slide as he aged, at one point several years ago wondering about the purpose of such ventures. Of course Zella Rey proved very powerful in the Force, needing guidance, and he enjoyed training her. Running his hand through his thinning white-grey hair before reaching for his caf, he glanced at Mayli.

"I remember we had something we needed to do…"

"Vaporators. One to install, one to replace, one to repair," Mayli said, leaning against him. "Need to make sure things are up and running well if we're going to try to sell."

Obi-Wan nodded, now remembering. Morning would be a good time to take care of this.

"We'll train after first sunset today," he called back to his daughter.

"'Kay," she answered. "I'm going to do a bit on my own this morning." He heard her leave the home.

Shifting to get more comfortable, he sighed, then suddenly sat up, almost spilling his caf.

"Nineteen years," he said.

"Hmmm?" asked Mayli.

"Today. Nineteen years today. Since Mustafar." Saying the name of the place often left a bitter, acidic taste in his mouth.

"Yes, such a long time ago," Mayli said casually, although he sensed a bit of tension at the edge of her comment. She always did her best to keep him from the darkness, saved him from the Dark Side more than once during their time together.

"I see him more and more on the holonews when in town. Anakin," Obi-Wan said, barely above a whisper.

"He is no longer Anakin, sweetheart. He is Darth Vader. Anakin died on Mustafar," Mayli said softly, caressing the back of Obi-Wan's neck, calming him. "I met him, remember? That day on Endor. He is not the man you speak of with such love. That man is gone."

Obi-Wan nodded, knowing he needed to believe this. Still, the image of Anakin, broken and burning, came back to him, vivid, harsh.

He moved from the bed suddenly, needing to get going so not to fall into the memory.

"I'll eat and then we can get started," he told Mayli.

"I'm running down to the ship. Left my tool box in the cave," she said, kissing him gently on the lips and heading out, leaving Obi-Wan alone in their home.

Grabbing a piece of fruit, a rather expensive indulgence on Tatooine these days with the ever-increasing Imperial taxes, he looked out the window to the meditation garden Mayli constructed for him so long ago.

Zella Rey Kenobi stood frozen in a meditation pose, eyes closed, balanced on one leg. Every rock and pebble surrounding her hovered in the air. Unmoving except for her long reddish-blonde hair moving gently in the morning breeze, she controlled herself and her environment effortlessly, Obi-Wan feeling a deep sense of pride in his daughter. Despite the challenges of training a Jedi outside of the Temple, without the proper resources, without the guidance of Master Yoda, Obi-Wan taught Zella the ways of the Force, and she blossomed into a talented young woman.

Obi-Wan smiled broadly at a memory of several years ago, the day he began Zella's Jedi training.

Eleven Years Ago

Mayli raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan. "Are you sure you can do this, Ben?"

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Of course, my dear. If Zella were in the Jedi Temple, she would have begun training years ago."

"So four years old is ancient," Mayli laughed, pulling her greasy work tunic over her head. She planned to spend the day in their garage cave below their home, working on her ship, the Nebula Flame.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Well…yes. Anakin was much older. That's why the Counsel had such reservations."

Mayli opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, biting her lip.

Obi-Wan just laughed. "You don't need to say anything. I know."

"Well, I just think you might have some…problems. You and Zella. Isn't discipline important?" Mayli asked, now putting on her boots.

They both paused, hearing Zella singing to herself in the next room, then talking, playing with her toys in her imaginary world.

"Zella is smart and works hard. Remember, she completed her chores with such diligence this week and…"

Mayli gave him a gentle smile as she walked toward the door. "I'm not worried about her."

"What?"

"Well…sweetie, let's be honest. Zella is a bit of a daddy's girl. I should know. I'm a daddy's girl," Mayli said, walking up to him and putting her palm gently against his red/grey beard. "Face it, she has you wrapped around her little finger."

"Now Mayli," Obi-Wan said, feeling a bit irritated. He certainly did not always give into Zella. Sure, he would read her three extra stories before bed if she asked. And yes, he'd bought her the polka dot ribbon she wanted when they'd been in town the previous week. And the stuffed plush bantha. True, he did do the voices of her favorite toys when they played tapcaf, and she made him act out the desert dowager, wearing one of flowered table clothes as a dress. Oh dear, maybe Mayli was right.

But Obi-Wan enjoyed being a father immensely. The role suited him well. Not long after Zella's first birthday, he quit bartending at Jabba the Hutt's cantina. An increasing Imperial presence put him in danger of discovery, and he took to taking care of their homestead and Zella full time, occasionally working as a day laborer at nearby ranches when Mayli was home. The following year, having put aside enough funds, Mayli quit Jabba's to once again run her own delivery business, moving legal goods, with an office in the nearby town of Water. But Mayli's days in the clandestine world of the underground stayed with her, and she occasionally did runs for the ever-growing rebellion, seeing Obi-Wan's dear friend Bail Organa at least twice a year.

Obi-Wan and Zella formed a special bond, and while he casually taught her about the Force, trying to hone some of the skills she exhibited already, he had yet to begin formal training. He should not have waited this long, but he enjoyed his silly, sweet, funny daughter. Beginning proper Jedi training meant the end of something, although Obi-Wan could not say exactly what.

But Mayli brought him out of his thoughts, laughing good-heartedly at him. "You and Zella are quite the team. You'll do fine. Good luck." She pulled her long hair back into a tie and headed out and down the hill.

Obi-Wan walked to Zella's room, standing in the door way for a moment. Zella sat on the floor, wooden blocks, a gift from the Organas, surrounding her like a fort.

"Zella?" said Obi-Wan.

She turned around, her freckled face lighting up, her deep blue eyes bright. "Yes, Daddy?"

"Are you ready to begin your Jedi training, like we spoke about last night?"

"Oh yes, Daddy," Zella cried, leaping up and running to take her father's hand.

He led her outside to their little desert garden, helping her up onto the bench opposite his usual seat, the one Mayli often lounged on while reading. Zella crossed her little legs and smoothed her light blue tunic. Ever so proper, just like her father, Obi-Wan mused.

Sitting down and facing her, he took a deep breath before he began.

"We're going to start with some simple meditation techniques in which you will reach out and touch the Force. The Living Force," he explained slowly, Zella nodding. "Remember, you've done this before, when you accidently flipped the table."

He saw Zella frown, obviously remembering the day her little Force tricks got out of control, and she ruined many of their dishes as well as dinner. To calm down, he taught her some basic ways of sinking into the Force with gentle precision.

"Just breathe, little one," he said softly and smiled as she closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

Moving into the Force himself, he planned to reach out to her Force signature, pull her along with him into the energy of the universe. He waited.

"Daddy?" came Zella's voice after some time.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes to see Zella watching him, still looking a bit distraught.

"Yes?"

"You said Sniff joined the Force," Zella said, her voice small and sad.

Obi-Wan glanced over at the empty eopie barn and enclosure. Sniff, the oft-ill family pet, died three months before, and Zella had been devastated, deeply attached to the eopie since her birth. Like Obi-Wan, she possessed a special knack for bonding with animals.

"Yes. When those we love die, they join the Force," Obi-Wan said softly, feeling a bit of grief again over the loss of Sniff.

"So will we get to see him when we touch the Force?" Zella asked, eagerness in her eyes.

Obi-Wan furrowed his eyebrows, not sure how to explain this. Oh, how he wished this were true, that if he simply touched the Force, he could see and converse with Qui-Gon Jinn, his master whose Force spirit dissipated years before. Or chat with Mace Windu…or even Padme.

"It doesn't really work like that, Zella," Obi-Wan answered. "I wish it did though."

Zella's face fell again, and she nodded.

"Come now, my jewel," he said, upbeat. "Let's try again. And before you know it, you'll be sparing with me with your very own lightsaber."

Zella beamed at him now, and he knew she longed to have her own blade, loved watching him on those rare occasions he brought out his lightsaber, Mayli up on the hill watching for TIE patrols so he wouldn't be seen.

Both father and daughter again closed their eyes, and Obi-Wan felt the Force flow through him. And there she was! Zella Rey, drifting beside him. Yes, little one, now let's…

"Daddy?"

Back to the tangible world, the morning heat of Tatooine, Zella staring at him, only this time smiling.

"What now, Zella?" Obi-Wan said, trying to remain patient.

"Remember when we were in town last week?"

"Yes?"

"And the poster in the general store?"

"Poster?"

"Yes! Mama read it aloud to me. The Darklighter ranch has baby eopies for sale!"

Obi-Wan nodded, now knowing where this conversation headed.

"Sniff's home feels empty. Can we get another eopie? Please, daddy?" Zella said, her sweet little voice breaking his heart, reminding him of how she cried all day after they discovered Sniff lying still in his enclosure.

Sighing heavily, Obi-Wan realized they could not begin Jedi training today. Mayli proved right, once again. His daughter had him wrapped around her little finger. But he didn't care. He'd lost his best friend to the Dark Side, the only family he knew, the Jedi, destroyed, all except himself and Master Yoda. And he couldn't exactly sit down to a pleasant lunch with the other exiled Jedi. He'd been forbidden to train Luke Skywalker, which he considered to be the very task he'd stranded himself on this world to do. But in the face of this, he'd met Mayli, fell in love, built a home, been blessed by the Force with a lovely little girl. He'd been stripped of so much, and if putting off Jedi training for the day to buy a new eopie made his little girl, and thus himself, happy, so be it.

He leaped up, Zella crawling off her bench at the same time. They began to make their way down the hill to see his wife, working diligently in the cave.

"Let's see if your mother is game for eopie shopping today," he said happily, Zella once again grabbing his hand and gabbing on and on about names for their new pet.

An hour later, the trio zoomed across the desert to one of the Darklighter ranches, returning by nightfall with a new Kenobi family pet.

Now, eleven years later, Obi-Wan realized his daughter now had more discipline than he did, Obi-Wan sleeping late, Zella Rey already outside training. Finishing his fruit, Obi-Wan moved down the small staircase from their kitchen to the tiny cellar, remembering he'd left his sand cloak down there the previous evening when he'd been working on his holocron. He'd need the covering if they were to be working in the sun on the vaporators.

Obi-Wan paused, regarding the holocron, the cube he'd constructed and been recording on for months now. Basic Jedi training, with some of the techniques he used at the Temple as well as the more haphazard way he had to train Zella without the help of other Jedi.

The holocron to be used by Luke Skywalker, if the time ever came.

Would that time ever come? Years passed, the Empire more hostile, the Rebellion stretched, Obi-Wan forever in wait on Tatooine. But things changed in the nineteen years since Mustafar, the nineteen years he'd stayed here on Tatooine. He'd watched Luke Skywalker from afar, protected the boy…no, man…from the eyes of the Empire. But for what?

In his years of waiting, Kenobi made a life for himself, and in the light of recent events….or rather events accumulating over the years of Zella's education…the time seemed to come to move on, to leave Tatooine. To focus one hundred percent on his life, his family. Plans were now in the works, arrangements actually being made. And while he still felt some hesitance about departing, knowing his original task to be solely Luke Skywalker, he felt with great certainty in the Force that his remaining days on Tatooine were few.

Moving his eyes from the holocron, he donned his cloak and moved back upstairs to join Mayli and Zella outside.

Author's Note: Welcome to my new story, the finale of my Obi-Wan exile trilogy. This story will bring us up to the very moment Obi-Wan enters A New Hope. Expect special family moments, romance, adventure, humor, and angst as well as appearances by many canon characters important in Obi-Wan's life.

If you haven't read the other two stories in my Tatooine Trilogy, please take a look, as well as my other tale Drudgery at Imperial Human Resources: A Sith's Story, which connects to Obi-Wan's final destiny as well.

Please follow/favorite. Reviews always appreciated and encouraged. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story.