Okay this is sort of random, but I was listening to the soundtrack from Blood Diamond and this is what popped into my head. Just a random conversation between master and padawan... :)
"What do you think happens… you know… when a person dies?"
What had happened to spark that question? They had been flying peacefully through the wide open expanse of space, minding their own business, free from the war for a few moments, and somehow his padawan had thought to ask that?
Obi-wan put the ship on autopilot and leaned back in his seat. His hand came up to rub at the beard that hid his face so well, and for a second he wondered what he was trying to hide. Was it his age? No, everyone knew how old he was, no matter what he looked like. That wasn't it, though that's what the rumors said.
He sighed. No… he knew what he was hiding. He just didn't want to admit it, especially not now of all times.
"Master?"
Obi-wan blinked. He was straying again. "Why do you ask?" he returned, barely remembering what his padawan wanted to know. Then he winced. Anakin hated it when he answered questions with questions.
Anakin frowned and looked through the cockpit glass. "You're doing it again…"
"Yes, yes, I know. Sorry," Obi-wan muttered, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "But really, Anakin, why do you want to know?"
The teenager shrugged. "Curiosity, I guess. We're in the middle of a war. I want to know what it will feel like if I die. What I'll see. That sort of thing."
"You're not going to die."
"How do you know?" Anakin suddenly snapped, causing his master to flinch. "We aren't invincible, you know! You keep telling me that, but I can tell that you don't believe it. You think every single Jedi will make it out alive?"
Obi-wan held the boy's hard gaze with a cold stare of his own. It was becoming harder and harder to control the temper he had been known for in his youth, and he silently cursed the blasted war. It was turning him into a senile old master at a mere thirty-three years old. "Must I remind you, Anakin, that we have both almost died more times than I care to remember?" he asked quietly. "Yes, we are still alive, but I know just as well as you that we shouldn't be."
"Then why do you act so calm all the time? You act as if you don't care if you die. Aren't you scared? Even just a little bit?" Anakin held up two fingers, measuring a small space between them to illustrate his point. Normally, the gesture would have been amusing, but considering the topic of choice, it was anything but.
The elder Jedi turned his seat so that he was facing Anakin. "What good does it do to worry about dying?"
"Worry and fear are two very different feelings, master," Anakin quietly argued.
A good point, Obi-wan mused. It appeared that some of his teaching was rubbing off at least. Obi-wan sighed. "Yes they are, but the two often exist side by side. If you fear something, you're bound to worry about it." He paused, staring at his hands which looked too dry and calloused to be healthy. "I am not afraid of dying, Anakin. I only hope that when I die, I will have done everything in my power to make this universe a better place."
The silence that followed was so thick it could almost be touched. Anakin eventually trained his eyes once more on his master and smiled. One of those rare, gentle smiles the two hardly ever expressed anymore. "So, what do you think will happen?"
The smile was contagious; the master felt his mouth twitch a little in return. "Singing," he blurted.
Anakin looked confused. "Singing? Who will be singing?"
He did smile then. A warm, unpracticed smile that caused his dry lips to crack a little. But he hardly felt the light stinging sensation. His mind was focused on something far away from that, something he suddenly yearned for. "The Force, Anakin. The Force will be singing." A beautiful song, calling him home.
"The Force will sing?" Anakin asked. Then he snorted. "Rriiiight…"
There was silence again
"Will you be there when I die, master?"
The question was barely a whisper, yet it seemed to echo loudly in the small cockpit. When his master didn't answer right away, Anakin looked over anxiously. "Will you?"
"No," Obi-wan said, his voice unexpectedly thick with emotion. "I'll do one better."
Anakin's brow furrowed.
"I'll be there to welcome you home."
Anakin blinked. Then he smiled. Without commenting, the youth closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, fading into a peaceful slumber, trusting that his master would keep to his word.
Over thirty years later, after many hearts had cracked and broken, after too many good men had suffered, the darkness would fade, as would Anakin's life.
The Light would sing as Its Chosen One finally returned home.
And an old master, wrinkles gone from his face, gray subdued by his youthful red-brown hair, would laugh and open his arms wide, beckoning his boy forward.
Do you hear the singing, Anakin?
Anakin would not reply. The way he would throw himself into his brother's strong arms would be answer enough.
Well, was it okay? I wasn't really sure about it, but if I didn't write it it would have been in my head forever, so there you have it! :)
"My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world." ~ Billy Graham