Trust in the Force
Chapter 1
Obi-Wan Kenobi set his small bag of possessions on the floor inside the abandoned hut and looked around. It was small and somewhat gloomy despite the twin suns beating down through a hole in the roof. Dust and sand covered the few remaining pieces of furniture that littered the floor. A broken chair lay on its side next to an overturned bed frame.
It didn't take long to drag everything outside. Once that was done, Obi-Wan took a broom and swept up the piles of sand and other debris. He worked quickly but even so, the suns had set by the time he had built a fire and made himself a bed. He was too tired and heart sick to eat anything. The rest of the repairs would have to wait for another day.
As he lay staring up at the stars through the hole in the roof, Obi-Wan fought back tears. It was the first time he had really been able to process all that had happened. There had been no time to think of the terrible events that brought him here before now. Visions of the Temple rose in his mind. It had been his home since childhood, and now all he could think of was how slick the floors were with blood. He would never forget the shock he felt when he realized who was responsible for the carnage. Then came the horrible fight on Mustifar, the sickening feel of his lightsaber cutting through flesh and bone. The hate…the overwhelming hate and darkness spewing forth from Anakin as he lay burning on the ground. He hadn't stopped to think as he held Padme's hand on Polis Massa, her life slipping away leaving poor innocent Luke and Leia alone as their pitiful cries echoed in the cold room. He hadn't thought as he and Yoda parted ways so intent was he on safely delivering Luke to his Aunt and Uncle on Tatooine. Would he ever see Yoda again? Now, alone in his hut, his feelings began to overwhelm him. Everything was gone. Everything. He clasped his arms to his chest, unable to stop the tears any longer. Finally, exhaustion took over and he fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time in days.
For the first few months, Obi-Wan kept himself busy. There were endless repairs that needed to be done to the hut to make it livable. There was the water collection unit to set up and keep running. And, there were supplies to get from the nearby town. He exercised for hours each day. Using his lightsaber was out of the question, but he practiced running through the forms with a wooden staff just to keep from getting rusty. Each morning before breakfast he meditated and, while his attempts at contacting Qui-Gon had so far been unsuccessful, he kept trying.
Every day he hiked to a ridge overlooking the Lars farm and used his binoculars and the force to scan the surrounding area for any signs of trouble. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of Owen out checking on the vaporators. Twice he had seen Beru with little Luke. She had been sitting on the steps leading down to the courtyard of their house folding laundry. Luke was propped up in the basket watching everything with great interest. She chatted to him and stopped every now and then to tickle his tiny chin or make a funny face while he gurgled with laughter. Obi-Wan smiled. Even from so far a distance he could feel the love she felt for the boy saturating the atmosphere around them. Yes, Yoda had been right to send him here.
Life settled into a routine and slowly the solitude, hard work, and harsh beauty of the desert began to heal the wounds on Obi-Wan's soul. As long as there was life, there was hope he told himself. He had to believe that. Trust in the Force and all will be revealed in time. Still, he couldn't help the twinges of loneliness that he felt with increasing regularity as he watched the glorious twin sunsets every evening from the front steps of his hut.
All his life he had lived around other beings. Someone was always around in the Temple if you needed to talk, or spar, or just get a bite to eat in the cafeteria. He had shared an apartment with Anakin for several years while he was still a padawan. Even during the war there were almost always clones or other Jedi on the missions he'd been assigned. He had never felt alone as he did now. He tried not to dwell on it. Those thoughts inevitably led him back to the reason for his current situation and sitting around wallowing in sorrow and self pity wasn't something a Jedi was supposed to do. "Well, tomorrow is another day." he thought to himself. Concentrate on that.
The next day Obi-Wan decided to fix the roof. He had put it off for quite a while, but now the temporary patch he had installed during his first week in the hut was beginning to come loose. According to the weather report he had seen on his data pad conditions were ideal for a sand storm. He had been lucky so far, but he couldn't rely on luck any longer. Gathering the tools he needed, he climbed up and began working.
Just as he finished pounding the last nail into place, a flash of light streaked across the sky. It happened so fast he would have thought it was his imagination had he not heard and felt a muffled thud flowed by a loud BOOM from quite a distance away. "A ship?" He thought. No, it had been too small. Maybe an escape pod? Smoke began to rise in the air. He jumped off the roof cushioning his fall with the force and began running in the direction of the crash.
He found what was left of a small escape pod about a mile from his hut. It lay precariously on it's side near the edge of a sharp cliff. Pieces of metal and glass were scattered everywhere. A fire had started in the engine and was beginning to consume one side of the pod drawing closer and closer to the only hatch that still looked like it would open. Someone was in there, he could feel it. They were still alive, but badly injured.
Without a moment of hesitation, Obi-Wan ran to the hatch, twisted and pulled as hard as he could. It gave, but did not open. Something must be bent! He tried again and again with the same results wrenching with all his might until finally something gave way and the hatch opened with a groan. Inside a woman lay sprawled over the controls, one arm still caught in the safety harness. Blood trickled down the side of her face from a deep cut on her scalp. She was unconscious. There was no time to loose. He quickly cut through the harness with his pocket knife, grabbed the woman under the arms and pulled her through the hatch.