Er... A story? For people to read? I hope someone out there enjoys it...

But I will be honest... This will not be my priority story. That's my Merlin story... but I hit a road block and I needed to write something to help me get in the proper mind setting. So this updating will be sporadic while I focus on some other stories.

Everyone was gone. Of the Jedi, only he and Yoda were left. Padme and her unborn children had faded into the force together after Anakin's force choke. And Anakin… Anakin would be better off dead. Anakin, well Anakin had turned into a Monster.

Obi-Wan felt his throat constrict as he tried to hold back tears. Anakin had turned. Anakin had killed Younglings. Younglings! Perhaps if Anakin had just killed him, or if Anakin had killed everyone on the Council, or if Anakin had done any number of atrocities, perhaps then could have the same hope in Anakin that Padme had expressed before her death.

But killing Younglings? Whose only crime was to be born force-sensitive? Obi-Wan wasn't sure there was any excuse for that. It was their parents who had given them to the Jedi; it had been the Jedi that had taken them into the temple… The younglings… they were innocent in every sense of the word. And now… Now, they were dead.

For as long as Obi-Wan had known Anakin, Anakin had tried to find loopholes to every order, made excuses so that he didn't have to do anything he truly didn't want to do. And now… and now, when it was important, when finding a loophole would make all the difference… now he had blindly followed orders.

Obi-Wan hear the tap tap of Yoda's Gimer stick but didn't look up.

"Very difficult this is. Little hope now there is."

Obi-Wan let out a small strained laugh. "What hope do we have? Palatine's won. Anakin's a Sith. The Republic let itself turn into an Empire." He looked up blankly into Yoda's eyes. "Other than You and Bail nearly everyone I cared for is dead, many of them killed by the man I called brother. Everything was lost. Where is our hope?"

Yoda gave him a gentle tap with his Gimer stick. "So long as freedom in hearts of people is, hope there is." Yoda harrumphed, "So ask you Obi-Wan I do. In your heart freedom is there?"

Obi-Wan didn't answer; instead he sat there in silence. Yoda sat beside him patiently. The last two Jedi, side by side. Finally Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, Yes I still believe in freedom."

Yoda nodded. "Then together fight we shall. How I know not. Together decide we shall."

Obi-Wan nodded. They weren't dead yet, but they would fight until they were. It was a new world they found themselves in, and a dark one. But they were alive, and so the light was alive, and they would help others find the light in themselves. They would not give up, and they would not give in. They would trust in the force.

Yoda nodded as though reading his thoughts. And since it was Yoda, Obi-Wan really wouldn't be surprised. "Yes yes, fight we shall. But for now meditate we shall, and then sleep we must."

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes Master."

"Come come, together meditate we should!"
Obi-Wan smiled as he followed the old master to his room on Bail Organa's ship. It was heart-warming to be with the old master. The warmth that had always characterized his presence was still there, even if there was an edge of sorrow to it now.

Obi-Wan sat across the floor from Yoda and after Yoda set up a force shield that would protect them from any casual detection they both sunk into meditation.

Obi-Wan reached tentatively for the force as he began to meditate. He was relieved to feel it flow to him almost eagerly. For a moment he just wrapped it around him and let it comfort him. And then slowly he began to let his emotions flow out into the force. It was slow work, letting the grief for each of his friends go one at a time. Letting his anger at Palpatine and his actions go. Letting his grief and guilt at Anakin's turn go.

He felt tears run down his cheeks but he didn't try to stem them. Instead he beseeched the force for strength and comfort. And in that moment he thought he felt all those he cared for in the force. He felt as though the force was prompting him There is no death; there is the force. And while that didn't miraculously make everything better he did feel comforted. His friends were there in the force waiting patiently until it was his turn to become one with the force.

He sank further into the force, he didn't seek anything, he didn't attempt to work through anything, instead he just let the force flow through him, and he let himself listen to its silent song. He let himself sink as deeply into the force as he could, in imitation of becoming one with the force. He let the force do with him as it will.

If later asked to explain what happened during that meditation he would never be able to fully explain his experience. It was almost as if he watched his whole life pass through him. Growing up in the temple, losing hope that he would ever become a padawan, being sent to Bandomeer, where he finally proved his worth to Qui-Gon and was accepted as his apprentice. The missions that followed, leaving the order to join the youth of Melida-Daan in bringing peace to their world, Bruck Chuns death, Xanatos death, more missions, the confusion he often felt at the hands of Master Qui-Gon, the need to be considered worthy, but never quite feeling as though he had succeeded. The fateful mission to Naboo, meeting Anakin, the fight with the Sith Apprentice, Qui-Gon's death, being elevated to knight and suddenly having an apprentice, trying to teach Anakin, trying to be the right Master for Anakin. More missions, the relationship between him and Anakin becoming more than Master and Padawan, instead becoming brothers, father and son, the battle of Genosis, the long tiring missions of the Clone Wars, and finally the end of the Clone Wars and the end of the Jedi Order. There was no recrimination from the force, no soft scolding, instead he was reminded that he had always done his best. There was no lies, the force knew he wasn't perfect, but it accepted everything he had done in the spirit within which he had done it. And while Obi-Wan knew that he had made plenty of mistakes, he was at peace, it wasn't possible at that time for him to feel guilt for his part in Anakin's turn. The force was telling him he could be at peace. He felt a new batch of tears begin to slide down his cheeks. The force had forgiven him his mistakes, and now he just had to forgive himself. He once again pulled the force around him as a blanket.

Finally he pulled himself out of meditation almost simultaneously with Yoda. Yoda gave him a searching look.

"Form a bond we must, important it is, for past and future. Yes yes, very important it is."

Obi-Wan blinked several times. "For past and future?"

Yoda nodded, "Heard me correct you did, now form a bond we must."

Obi-Wan gave him a quizzical look, "I have no objections of course, but, how will this bond help with the past and the future?"

"Know I do not! But know to trust the force I do! Form a bond we must."

Obi-Wan nodded, he trusted the force and he trusted Yoda, if this was what they both wanted him to do than he definitely had no objections, not that he would have an issue with forming a bond with Yoda in the first place. It was after all a great honor.

They both settled into a half level meditative state, Obi-Wan reached out with his mind and met Yoda's own mind probe. Together they united the two probes until there was a single probe stretching between the two. Obi-Wan couldn't help but think that the bond was right. It had the same comfort that he often associated with the bond he had shared with his former master. Having someone strong and wise just a thought away. It was… right. Together they formed a secondary layer of protection around the bond. After all it never hurt to have a little more protection. Especially in these times.

Obi-Wan felt a thrill of exhilaration. While he had first considered it to be similar to his former master-padawan bond, he now realized was much more. While a master-padawan bond started out of duty, while it often evolved to become much more than that, it still remained fact that that was why it had been started. But this bond… this was a bond between equals. This bond had been born out of friendship, mutual need, and comfort. And it was comforting, knowing that he was now forever connected with the only other Jedi still alive. He opened his eyes and wiped away a few tears that had slipped through his closed eyelids. He saw that Yoda's eyes seemed to have their own share of unshed tears.

"A bond we have always had, official now it is."

Obi-Wan gave a small smile. "It is an honor and a blessing to share this bond with you." His smile widened "I'm grateful for the reminder that I will never be alone."

Yoda nodded, "Serve us well this bond will. Remember you must that always help you I will."

"And I you."

Yoda gave a small chortle. "No no, big plans the force has for you. Smaller my part is."

Obi-Wan snorted, "And what would that be."

"Know that I do not! Trust in the force we must!"

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes, that we must." Silently he doubted that he could really have an important part to play.

"Ow!"

He rubbed his thigh where Yoda had whacked him with his walking stick. "Doubt me you should not!"

"Of course Master."

Yoda scowled. Obviously Obi-Wan hadn't sounded sincere enough. But thankfully Yoda didn't feel the need to whack him again. Obi-Wan really didn't want any more bruises to add to his already bruised body… his fight with Anakin had been both physically, mentally, and emotionally painful.

Yoda interrupted his thoughts, "Now, sleep we must."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. He was thoroughly exhausted. All though he wasn't sure he would actually be able to sleep. His mind was still trying to cope with everything that had happened in the past few days.

Yoda tapped him softly. "Calm your mind you must. Listen to the force did you? Calm your mind and heart did it?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, it did."

"Than remember that you must. Trust the force you must."

Obi-Wan nodded. "You're right Master."

He left the room and headed to the room that Bail had prepared for him. He made a mental note to thank Bail yet again for all that he had done for them.

He didn't think that he would ever be able to thank Bail enough for all the he had done. But he would certainly try.

He lay down on the sleep couch prepared for him. He let his mind wander through the visions of his past that he had seen during his meditations. It was strange, seeing everything that way had opened his mind to things he hadn't really recognized. He had expected to be reminded of all of his failures. And while he had seen many of his mistakes it was more than that. After Qui-Gon's death he had almost put him on a pedestal, maybe a part of that was because of Anakin's constant critique 'Qui-Gon would have understood… Qui-Gon would have been able to help me… If Qui-Gon had been here this never would have happened." Eventually Anakin had stopped, but by then the damage had been done. In Obi-Wan's mind he would never quite measure up. Now that he had seen both his own apprenticeship and his time as a Master, he could see the mistakes that both he and Qui-Gon had made. Over time he had idealized his relationship with his master. While it had been a strong bond, it had also been a distant bond, Qui-Gon had demanded a good deal from him, had nearly expected him to be a perfect padawan, he had preached following the force, but had often ignored Obi-Wan's own premonitions from the force. And while Qui-Gon had loved him, he had never truly shown that love. No, Qui-Gon had been to scarred by his relationship with Xanatos to do that. It made Obi-Wan wonder what would have happened if Qui-Gon had lived to take Anakin as his apprentice. Would he have changed back to the way he had been with Xanatos or would he have kept to the aloof teaching pattern that he had adopted with Obi-Wan?

Obi-Wan shook his head. It did him no good to think about these things now. It was in the past, and it would stay there. Qui-Gon had likely taught him the way he felt was best, and he had tried to teach Anakin in the way he felt was best. But Obi-Wan had chosen how he was going to live his life, and Anakin had the same opportunity to make that choice. And Obi-Wan would have to be happy with that.

He took a few deep breaths, and with each exhale he released his thoughts.

Slowly he fell asleep.

The force saw everything, the force was everything. And the force was, at the moment, a little annoyed. The force could do a lot of things. But the force had it's own rules. The most important one-There was always a choice. The force could put people in certain positions so that they could do great things, but still they had to choose to do great things. This time around the right choices hadn't been made. Even then the force had a back up plan. The twin children would have had the ability to bring the world back into it's proper balance. But Anakin's anger had ruined that plan, going so far as to actually manage to kill his wife and his unborn children. The force sighed… A balance would be achieved, a balance was always achieved, but it was more a question of time. Before Anakin's fall there had been a slight imbalance, but Anakin and Palpatine had made it into a cataclysmic imbalance.

And the force wasn't happy with that, and it certainly didn't want to spend the next century that way. It would if it had to, and it would make the best of it, as it always did. And perhaps if the force had been left with almost any other people it would have let the world continue as it was. But the force had a special regard for both Obi-Wan and Yoda. In Yoda's 800 years it had served the force diligently, as all living things, he made mistakes, misunderstood the forces wishes. But he had tried his best. And for the most part he had succeeded.

Obi-Wan was in a similar position. He had always done his best to do as the force asked him to. But the force would admit that he had given young Obi-Wan a difficult hand. It had sent Obi-Wan to heal a broken man's heart, it had sent Obi-Wan to be a leader of light while the world was falling into darkness, it had sent Obi-Wan to teach an angry boy to become a great man, it had sent Obi-Wan to live a life full of sorrow and heartache. And Obi-Wan had done so, and had done so well, and with a full heart and an unconquerable spirit, never breaking under the pressures that the force had asked him to bear.

And so the force whirled around as it considered all of the possibilities before it. And perhaps it wasn't fair what the force intended to do. The two Jedi had already given a great deal to the force, and what the force asked wouldn't be easy. And with the knowledge that the two Jedi had never balked at doing the will of the force the force made it's choice.

This story will likely have many cliches... But cliches are fun.

But first I should say... I am NOT one of the people under the opinion that the Jedi had it coming. Should they be more flexible... Eh... probably. But I don't think they are idiots for doing what they did. They did what they felt was best.

Nor am I one of the people who feels like loads of exceptions should be made for Anakin... I feel like that's a horrible idea, in my opinion it would only make Anakin more assured of his 'Chosen Oneness' and his pride level would go up a bunch. And it was already pretty high to start with. In this story I will have a few exceptions made for Anakin... But not very much.

Anyways... sorry for the rant... Hope this story is somewhat enjoyed.