Title: In The End
Author: XVIII
Rating: PG13
Setting: ANH
Summary: Obi-Wan's last thoughts
Archive: Ask me first!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters belong to Mr. Lucas. The song belongs to Linkin Park.
It starts with one thingI don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme to explain in due time
All I know
Thrust. Parry. Thrust. Parry.
He had been trained from birth for this. The system, the code was ingrained in his head. He would never forget. The years of training, the years of pain, the years of hardship, all to obtain the title that later turned out all for naught.
His master. Dead.
His love. Dead.
His friends. Dead.
His apprentice… his apprentice was facing him, countering every move with moves of his own. His apprentice was using the moves that he taught him. But no. This was not his apprentice anymore. This was the monster that had slowly consumed his apprentice. The monster that had put the galaxy into disarray. The monster he had created.
Time is a valuable thingWatch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the days
The clock ticks life away
It's so unreal
Thrust. Parry. Thrust. Parry.
The scary thing was, he could still remember. He could remember the day his master was stuck down by a red and black fiend. He could remember when he had used the black power his enemy was using to strike his enemy down. He could remember when he took the boy in as his own.
He could remember when the boy grew too arrogant. He could remember when the promise of wealth, riches, and fame became too irresistible for him. He could remember when he had to flee from all he knew.
He could remember his final duel with the boy. He could remember the strokes, the slashes, the words exchanged. He could remember the boy falling into the lava. He could remember the boy becoming a machine. He could remember when the boy lost all that was left of his humanity.
He could remember hiding from the man he once called friend. He could remember comforting his apprentice's wife. He could remember her giving birth to two children. He could remember having to take one of them from his mother and run again, this time to a remote planet so that they wouldn't be found.
He could remember his reaction to her death. He could remember watching the boy, the son of his enemy, grow up. He could remember seeing the boy's sister for the first time in a transmission. He could remember going to save her. He could remember arriving on this godforsaken machine. He could remember seeing the monster, fighting one last time with him.
He could remember.
Didn't look out below Watch the time go right out the windowTrying to hold on
But didn't even know
Wasted it all just to watch you go
Thrust. Parry. Thrust.
He knew he was at fault. His ignorance, his carelessness with training the boy had led to everyone's downfall. He dismissed the darkness growing in the boy as a temporary phase. He was so stupid.
All the years of prosperity. All the years of peace. Gone. The Jedi were gone. Wiped out by his mistakes. He felt their cries as one by one they were killed. Slowly, the Jedi Order crumbled. Slowly, the galaxy spiraled toward doom. He could do nothing but watch and run, trying to avoid death himself, becoming a lonely hermit on a lonely planet.
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried
It all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
Be a memory of a time when
Parry. Thrust. Parry. Parry.
He had vowed to stay out of war. He had vowed never to take another life after he took his own brother's. But he had vowed to protect the boy. He had to break one of his vows.
When he saw his goddaughter, though, he knew which vow to keep. Seeing her again reminded him of her mother. He saw the same spark in her eyes, the energy that radiated from her body, the dark hair, and the defiance that was shown in her posture. She even used the same words her mother once used.
He had to break his vow. He had to fight again. He had to protect what was left of his family.
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
Parry. Parry. Parry. Thrust.
He was on his final mission. He had one more promise to fulfill and he would be free from his captivity, free to do as he wished. He would be free to love, free to run and play and dance and be happy. He would be free. But he had to fulfill his promise. He had to keep the boy safe.
He had given his word to the boy's mother, his lost love. He had promised to keep the boy safe. He knew that the fate of the galaxy would rest on the boy and his sister. He saw them running through the hangar bay, gunfire all around them. He saw that they would make it to the ship. He saw that he had succeeded. He saw-
White, glorious white surrounding him, surrounding his loved ones. His beloved friend and queen. His beloved master. Even some of his close friends stood surrounding him, welcoming him into the paradise they lived in.
Then he saw two people he had never seen before. A male and a female. Both aged and graying. Who were these people? They reminded him so much of someone he knew. The sparkling ice blue eyes, the firm body, the gentle smile, they reminded him so much of… then it hit him.
The man smiled.
"Hello, my son."
Obi-Wan Kenobi knew he was home at last.